With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls set to begin in West Bengal from Tuesday, sources in the Election Commission (EC) said that less than one-third (32.06 per cent) of the total voters’ names in the 2025 roll have matched with the 2002 list in the state.
According to the office of CEO, West Bengal, out of the total 7,66,37,529 voters in the 2025 roll, only 2,45,71,114 names have matched with the 2002 voters’ list.
Among them, three districts – South Kolkata, Howrah, and Paschim Bardhaman – have recorded the lowest percentage of matching names – 35 per cent, 38 per cent, and 31 per cent, respectively.
However, some other districts have recorded a matching percentage as high as 79 (Bankura).
This process of “matching-mapping” – comparing the two sets of voters’ lists, one of 2002 when the last SIR was conducted in the state, with the latest list published in 2025 – was done by the EC in every electoral district of the state.
Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharati, who visited West Bengal after the Durga Puja to take stock of the preparations for the SIR, had directed all the district magistrates to complete the matching-mapping process before the SIR rollout.
In Bihar, the only state where the SIR has been conducted so far, the latest voter list was compared to the 2003 list, when the revision exercise was last carried out there. All those who did not figure in the 2003 list were required to submit a list of documents for enrolment.
A senior EC official said, “We are doing this matching and mapping to ease out the exercise during the door-to-door enumeration form distribution task. All the BLOs (Booth-Level Officers) will have a clear picture, how many people’s names are in the 2002 SIR list.”
Districts bordering Bangladesh, like Malda, have, however, recorded a higher matching percentage (54%). Other border districts of Murshidabad have recorded 56% match of voters’ names, South 24 Parganas 45%, and North 24 Parganas 41%.
North Bengal border districts, Cooch Behar has 48% match, Alipurduar 54%, Uttar Dinajpur 44%, and Dakshin Dinajpur 55%.
Districts in south Bengal like Birbhum matched 53%, Hooghly 56% and Jhargram 51%.
Districts that have a high rate of matching names include Bankura 79%, Purba Bardhaman 73%, Kalimpong 65%, and Purulia 63 %.
Figures for Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts were not made available. According to the EC sources, the flood and landslides in the two districts last month delayed the matching-mapping process.
Over 80,000 BLOs begin door-to-door survey
Meanwhile, the SIR enumeration forms were distributed to 80,681 BLOs on Monday, on the eve of the door-to-door survey.
Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, who held a meeting with all district magistrates, directed them to ensure security to the BLOs during survey visits.
“The meeting also took stock of preparations for the exercise, which will involve 80,681 BLOs, with an additional 14,000 BLOs deployed to support the process. The review was aimed at ensuring that the SIR process proceeds smoothly, securely, and efficiently across the state,” an official said.
A team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti will visit the state from November 5 to 8 to review the rollout of SIR, a senior official said.
The team, led by ECI Principal Secretary SB Joshi and Deputy Secretary Abhinav Agarwal, is likely to inspect the districts of Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri.