Indian Opposition Protests Massive Voter Deletions During Electoral Revision

Opposition parties and civil society groups are protesting the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, alleging the systematic removal of genuine voters. In West Bengal, the total voter count dropped from 7.66 crore to 7.04 crore, a reduction of over 61 lakh names. While the poll body attributed these changes to deceased, absent, or shifted voters, critics claim the process was used to target specific demographics.

Abhishek Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress announced that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a dharna in Kolkata on March 6 to protest the discrepancies. Banerjee alleged that names of women, minorities, and Scheduled Tribes were selectively omitted to meet pre-set targets, citing 243 instances where living people were listed as deceased. He also questioned why high-ranking officials, including Chief Secretary Nandini Mukherjee, were placed under adjudication.

Simultaneously, the Indian National Congress organized a protest march in Kolkata to the West Bengal State Election Commission. Party leaders Ashutosh Chatterjee and Subhankar Sarkar demanded a public audit of the deletions and announced their own dharna for March 6. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury warned the Chief Electoral Officer that minor documentation errors could deprive citizens of their voting rights.

Beyond West Bengal, civil society organizations in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, described the SIR as a systematic war against marginalized communities. Activists alleged that the government is using the process to strip Muslims and political opponents of their voting rights by demanding excessive documentation to prove citizenship.