West Bengal government officers’ body flags voter deletions after electoral roll revision

An association of West Bengal government officers has expressed objections to what it described as “suo motu system-driven deletion” of voters from the draft electoral rolls under the ongoing revision of voter rolls in the state, PTI reported.

In a letter to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the West Bengal Civil Service Executive Officers’ Association alleged that the exercise bypassed the statutory role of electoral registration officers.

The association flagged that a large number of electors whose enumeration forms had not been returned – on account of reasons such as death, migration, absence or duplication – were deleted from the draft rolls on the day of their publication.

The Election Commission published the state’s draft electoral rolls, in which more than 58 lakh voters were removed, on December 16.

Referring to existing legal provisions, the association said the law allows for a voter’s name to be deleted only on specific grounds, such as when “the person concerned has ceased to be ordinarily resident in the constituency or that he is otherwise not entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency”.

It added that in all such cases, the concerned electoral registration officers must provide the voter a reasonable opportunity of being heard, as required under Section 22 of the 1950 Representation of the People Act.

The association argued that “system-driven deletion” of such a large number of electors at one time appeared to infringe on the rights of voters who might otherwise be eligible but were unable to participate in the enumeration process.

It also cautioned that names of electors might be deleted from the voter roll “without the knowledge of the ERO, who is the competent authority as per the statute”.

While acknowledging that the Election Commission, as a constitutional authority, has the power to issue directions for electoral revision, the association said affected voters were likely to blame electoral registration officers without realising that they too had been excluded from the entire deletion process.

Seeking remedial measures, the officers’ body requested the West Bengal chief electoral officer to issue directions to ensure electoral registration officers can perform their duties with greater clarity and authority, PTI reported.

West Bengal is expected to head for Assembly elections in the first half of 2026.

Besides West Bengal, the special intensive revision of electoral rolls is underway in 11 other states and Union Territories.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly polls in November, at least 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll published on September 30.

Concerns had been raised after the announcement in Bihar that the exercise could remove eligible voters from the roll. Several petitioners also moved the Supreme Court against it.

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