SIR: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to publish the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal today after the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.
Printed copies of the draft voter lists will be made available to all recognized political parties by the chief electoral officers (CEOs) and district election officers (DEOs). In addition, draft rolls will also be made available on the internet on the DEO and CEO websites.
The Election Commission will also publish the SIR electoral draft rolls of Goa, Puducherry, Rajasthan and Lakshadweep.
What Happens Next in West Bengal?
The publication of draft rolls by the ECI will bring an end to the enumeration phase. Thereafter, the stage of claims, objections and hearings will stretch into February 2026.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made a provocative suggested to women asking them to be prepared with “kitchen tools” if their names are deleted by the ECI during SIR.
Previosly, Mamata had warned of a dharna if any name gets illegally removed by the ECI. She had claimed that ‘BJP minded’ officials were exerting pressure on the District Magistrate to eliminate 1.5 crore names from the West Bengal voter lists.
SIR 2025 Draft Roll In West Bengal
The ECI draft rolls for the state of West Bengal are likely to include approximately 7.08 crore voters out of the total 7.66 crore in the state. The ECI refused to entertain more than 58 lakh forms as booth level officers found that those voters had moved, deceased, duplicates or absent. It was revealed by the ECI that 19.93 lakh have permanently moved, 1.37 lakh are registered at multiple locations, 24.18 lakh are deceased, 12.01 lakh cannot be traced and 57,509 fall into other categories.
