Tea belt sees large SIR deletions, parties cite migration

Alipurduar/ Jalpaiguri / Cooch Behar: The publication of the draft electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on Tuesday has sparked political reactions across West Bengal. In Alipurduar district alone, 95,286 voter names have been deleted from the draft list, according to district administration sources.

Officials said nearly 45,000 of the deleted names belonged to deceased voters. The remaining deletions were attributed to absence during verification, migration to other states, or duplication of names in multiple constituencies.

Among the district’s five Assembly constituencies, the tea belt Kalchini Assembly constituency recorded the highest number of deletions at 23,377. Alipurduar Assembly constituency followed with 21,197 names removed. Another tea garden-dominated seat, Madarihat, saw 21,062 deletions, while Falakata and Kumargram recorded 14,886 and 14,764 deletions respectively.

Political parties have largely agreed that the sharp fall in voter numbers in Kalchini and Madarihat may be linked to large-scale migration of tea garden workers to other states for employment, which prevented their participation in the SIR process. However, political observers have described the scale of deletions in the urban-centric Alipurduar Assembly constituency as particularly significant.

In Alipurduar Assembly constituency, 11,914 names were deleted on grounds of death, 6,416 due to migration, 2,508 marked as absent, and 359 due to duplication across multiple voter lists.

Reacting sharply, Sourav Chakraborty, BLA-1 of TMC in Alipurduar, alleged irregularities in the revision process. “The Election Commission has played a game in the name of SIR. We are preparing a roadmap for a strong agitation,” he said. Alipurduar BJP MP Manoj Tigga, however, said the issue of migrant workers required careful review. “The matter of migrant workers is a concern. We will review the situation,” he stated. Before the SIR, Alipurduar district had 12,99,486 registered voters. Following the revision, the number has dropped to 12,04,200.

Clarifying the process, District Chief Electoral Officer R. Vimala said enumeration forms were issued to all voters and that deletions occurred due to non-collection of forms for valid reasons such as death or change of residence.

“There is no need to panic. Voters whose names are missing can apply through Form 6 with Annexure 4. Hearings will begin after one week,” she said, adding that the draft roll has been shared with all political parties and will be displayed at every polling booth.

In Jalpaiguri district, the election office has summoned 77,439 voters for hearings related to the draft roll. Of these, 32,559 are from the Dabgram–Phulbari Assembly constituency. A total of 1,33,107 names have been deleted in the district, including 66,418 deceased voters, 29,052 missing voters, and 34,755 who have shifted residence.

Mal Assembly constituency recorded the highest number of deceased voters at 12,677, followed by Dabgram–Phulbari with 12,258, which also saw the highest number of missing voters at 19,147. All 77,439 voters flagged under “no mapping” will be issued notices and called for hearings, officials said.

In Cooch Behar district, 1,13,370 names have been deleted from the

draft electoral roll.

The Trinamool Congress objected, alleging that several living voters were wrongly marked dead or untraceable.