Bangladesh’s net voter deletion rate is 10.9%, ranking fifth among 12 states and union territories

NEW DELHI: West Bengal, which has been the most vocal against SIR, ranks fifth in terms of net deletion (10.9 per cent) and third in absolute deletion of absentee, transferred, dead and double-registered (ASDD) voters among the 12 states/Union Territories where the second phase of SIR was completed. The state is second only to Uttar Pradesh in terms of the number of dead voters. While 2.55 million deceased voters were found and purged in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal has 2.42 million such voters. Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal together account for nearly three-quarters of the 6.69 million dead voters deleted across 12 states/Union Territories. As far as voters permanently shifted in the second phase are concerned, West Bengal ranks sixth with 19,900 people out of Rs 31 crore removed in this category. This was despite the fact that the Bengal electorate was second only to Uttar Pradesh in strength when the SIR began.

Uttar Pradesh, where out-migration is common, had the highest number of deleted voters (130 million), followed by Tamil Nadu (5.27 million), Gujarat (4.02 million), Rajasthan (2.49 million) and Madhya Pradesh (2.28 million). The total number of voters omitted in 12 states/Union Territories due to registration in multiple places is close to 1.3 crore. In this category, West Bengal ranks eighth, the lowest among the major states. With 1.40 lakh dual-registered voters exiting, it trails Uttar Pradesh (7.95 million), Tamil Nadu (1.35 million), Gujarat (0.970 million), Madhya Pradesh (0.840 million), Kerala (0.640 million), Rajasthan (4.600,000) and Chhattisgarh (3.700,000). Apart from delisted ASDD voters, there is an ‘other’ category that covers those voters who have chosen not to fill and submit the enumeration form despite repeated visits by booth-level officials. Of the 1.27 million deletions under this category, West Bengal ranks fourth in terms of number of deletions (57,604), behind Uttar Pradesh (0.770 million), Gujarat (1.900,000) and Kerala (1.600,000). West Bengal had the lowest number of new electors among the major states during the SIR. These additional registrations are made under Form 6 (first-time voters) and Form 8 (existing voters registered at a new address). West Bengal added 0.75 million voters, ranking seventh after Uttar Pradesh (9.24 million), Tamil Nadu (3.5 million), Kerala (2.04 million), Rajasthan (1.54 million), Madhya Pradesh (1.29 million) and Gujarat (1.22 million). Another 6.32 million names were removed in 12 states/Union Territories through Form 7 or award, the latter of which was applicable only to West Bengal. States governed by TMC topped the list with 3.31 million expungement records, of which 2.71 million were adjudicated by judicial officers and the remaining 600,000 were expunged due to objections received through Form 7. Overall, West Bengal’s net culling rate (percentage of voters at the start of the SIR) was 10.9 per cent, lower than Andaman and Nicobar Islands (16.6 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (13.2 per cent), Gujarat (13.1 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (11.3 per cent).