Bengal's Muslim-Majority Murshidabad, Malda See Highest Number Of Voters Pending SIR Scrutiny

Last Updated:March 01, 2026, 17:52 IST

A total of 60.06 lakh voters have been marked as 'under adjudication' in the final electoral rolls, pending verification, after the SIR process in West Bengal.

The Muslim-majority districts of Murshidabad and Malda have the largest number of voters whose documents are still pending verification, according to the final electoral rolls issued by the Election Commission following the SIR exercise in West Bengal.

A total of 60.06 lakh voters have been marked as ‘under adjudication’ in the final electoral rolls, pending verification. Among them, 11.01 lakh are in Murshidabad, and 8.28 lakh in Malda, officials told news agency PTI.

Other districts with a significant number of voters listed as ‘under adjudication’ are Uttar Dinajpur (4.80 lakh), Purba Bardhaman (3.65 lakh), Howrah (2.89 lakh), Nadia (2.67 lakh) and Birbhum (2.02 lakh). Most of these districts, including Murshidabad and Malda, share a border with Bangladesh.

There are also 5.91 lakh such voters in North 24 Parganas and 5.22 lakh in South 24 Parganas, officials said. Kalimpong and Jhargram have the lowest number of such electors.

This came after West Bengal’s electoral rolls shrank by 8.30 per cent following the SIR exercise, from 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore. “Electors under adjudication have been included to ensure that no eligible person is excluded while verification of documents and claims continues," an official said.

When the SIR began, the total number of voters stood at 7,66,37,529. In the draft roll, the figure dropped to 7,08,16,630, indicating that around 58 lakh names were excluded at the draft stage. According to the final roll released on Saturday, the total number of voters is 7,04,59,284, taking the overall exclusions to approximately 62 lakh.

Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal stated that this is the final roll for now, but nearly 61 lakh cases involving logical discrepancies are being reviewed by judicial officers. Depending on the outcome of the adjudication process, these names may either be added through supplementary lists or permanently deleted.

The SIR exercise has become a central political flashpoint in West Bengal, with major parties offering sharply contrasting interpretations of the revision. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed concern over the scale of deletions, stating that she believes more than one crore voter names may have been removed.

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