Malda flags thousands of missing & deceased voters during SIR review

Malda: A high-level delegation from the National Election Commission (EC) expressed satisfaction with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 process in Malda district, but also voiced serious concern over the unusually high number of deceased and untraceable voters still present on the electoral rolls on Thursday evening. The six-member team, led by Gyanesh Bharti, the National Election officer in-charge of Bengal, arrived from Murshidabad to conduct a detailed review of the district’s voter list and SIR progress.

According to sources, as many as 5,572 deceased individuals continue to remain listed as active voters across Malda’s 12 Assembly constituencies. The Election Commission has instructed district officials to issue notices as per protocol and immediately initiate procedures to remove these names from the rolls. “It is essential that the voter list reflects only eligible and living voters. Proper verification and timely deletion are mandatory,” a senior official from the visiting team reportedly said.

During the review meeting, held at the district administrative headquarters in English Bazar, the delegation met senior officials from the district election office, followed by a separate meeting involving the District Magistrate and all Block Development Officers. Over nearly two-and-a-half hours, the officials scrutinised multiple aspects of the SIR, including verification lapses, enumeration challenges and demographic discrepancies.

One of the key issues highlighted was the large number of voters whose whereabouts are unknown.

District data reveals that 7,171 voters across the 12 Assembly segments could not be traced during the enumeration process. Neither could forms be distributed to them, nor collected back after completion. Many among them are believed to be deceased, yet their names remain on the list.

The English Bazar Assembly Constituency recorded the highest number of untraceable voters, with 1,173 individuals, followed by Sujapur (996), Ratua (944), Manikchak (830) and Baishnabnagar (786). English Bazar also topped the list for deceased voters, with 1,017 names still present in the 2025 electoral roll. Other constituencies reported similarly high figures—Sujapur (822), Ratua (682), Manikchak (641), Malda (619) and Baishnabnagar (594).

At the end of the review, West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal stated: “The National Election Commission will speak on the Chief Minister’s letter. We follow the directives of the Commission—the state election office has no separate role in this matter.”

He further added: “The SIR work in Malda is satisfactory. The Central team is pleased with the progress. All tasks will be completed within the scheduled time.”

Addressing concerns regarding riverine (char) settlements and border-side complications, Agarwal said: “If there are issues in the riverine areas of Malda, the district administration will handle them. Local residents have nothing to worry about. The issue of infiltration is also being examined.”