Panic, anger ripple across Matua belt as SIR deletions reopen citizenship faultlines before Bengal polls

Sporadic protests over the alleged wrongful deletion of names from the electoral rolls erupted across parts of West Bengal days after the publication of the final rolls on February 28, even as Central forces began arriving in the State and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) reviewed the State’s preparedness for the 2026 Assembly elections.

On Monday (March 2, 2026), residents of Manicktala in north Kolkata staged a protest, alleging that at least 270 names were deleted from the voter list in a single neighbourhood. They expressed concern over their voting rights.

“Every single member of our family has been removed from the voter list, even though all of us attended the hearing,” a woman (name withheld for privacy) from a family of three said. The Booth Level Officer (BLO) of the area confirmed that all 270 individuals had appeared for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing.

In a separate incident, a BLO from Ward No. 7 of Kamarhati Municipality, Mohammad Tahir, who was in his 50s, allegedly died of cardiac arrest on Sunday. His name had been marked as “under adjudication” in the final voter list. Family members alleged that he had been under mental distress following this development. Aggrieved neighbours gathered outside his house in solidarity.

In North 24 Parganas’ Gaighata, a Matua-dominated area, protests erupted on Sunday, with demonstrators blocking roads and burning tyres over the alleged deletion of names.

According to officials, over 60 lakh voters in the State remain “under adjudication” (a category of voters whose citizenship or inclusion in the voter list is currently being reviewed by election authorities ) before 501 judicial officers. Their inclusion in the electoral roll will be confirmed only after the publication of the supplementary voter lists.

So far, 7.04 crore voters have been included in the final roll, including those under adjudication. Earlier, 58 lakh names were deleted when the draft roll was published, and an additional 5.46 lakh names were removed in the final list.

#### Protest in offing

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to hold a protest rally in Kolkata on March 6 on the issue. All India Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that many deletions were wrongful. “Bapi Halder, an MP from the Scheduled Caste community, received an SIR hearing notice. Several SC representatives have been deleted. I have received more than 250 calls so far. The BJP wants to take away your voting rights. Our fight is against this,” Mr. Banerjee said.

Poll preparedness review

Senior officials of the Election Commission of India, including the Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and the Deputy Election Commissioner, held a video conference on Monday with West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer, senior police officers, and district magistrates to review the preparedness for the 2026 Assembly polls.

“It has been decided by the ECI to have a review meeting with enforcement agencies on March 5,” an official at the CEO office said.

Sources indicated that a full bench of ECI officials from Delhi, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, may visit Kolkata next week, following which the State Assembly election schedule could be announced.

#### Central forces deployed

Meanwhile, several of the 480 companies of the central forces have already started arriving across West Bengal, with deployments already underway in Kolkata. The deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will be in two phases and completed by March 10.

The highest deployment has been in Kolkata, where 30 companies have been stationed, followed by 28 companies in Purba Medinipur, 25 in Purba Bardhaman, and 20 in Murshidabad, among other districts.

Published - March 02, 2026 11:22 am IST

Related Topics