In Bengal, Howrah South, Jorasanko & Chowringhee haemorrhage max number of voters after final roll

Kolkata: Among the 63.7 lakh voters marked ‘deleted' in Bengal, the Howrah South, Jorasanko, and Chowringhee assembly segments witnessed the most deletions due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The "voter haemorrhaging" was more pronounced in Kolkata than in the rest of Bengal, knocking off over 30% of the electorate in Jorasanko and Chowringhee.


The fate of another 60 lakh voters across the state — including 14.4 lakh in Kolkata — hangs in the balance due to ongoing judicial scrutiny.

Among the 10 assembly constituencies that recorded the highest reduction in electors during the SIR exercise, 6 belong to the Kolkata North and Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituencies. Salt Lake (Bidhannagar) is also there on the top-10 list.

Howrah South assembly constituency tops the list. Before the SIR exercise commenced, Howrah South had 2,85,431 voters. That number is now reduced by 83,267, representing a 29.1% decrease.

In the Jorasanko assembly constituency, under the Kolkata North Lok Sabha seat, the names of 66,491 electors were deducted in total, shrinking the voter base by 34.7%. Chowringhee, which ranks third in terms of voter reduction, saw its electoral count shrink by 62,695, or 32%, compared to the pre-SIR period.

These figures, though, could increase. In Jorasanko, 15,307 voters are listed under the "logical discrepancy" category, while in Chowringhee, 17,545 voters are flagged under the same category.

The 4-month-long SIR exercise also wiped out 54,064 electors from the roll in the Bidhannagar assembly constituency. Bidhannagar had 2,56,434 voters at the start of the exercise; its electoral base has been reduced by 21% after the final list.

Cossipore-Belgachhia, Ballygunge, Shyampukur, and Kolkata Port are the other Kolkata assembly constituencies that secured places among the top 10 state-wide for voter depletion. Cossipore-Belgachhia, which had 2,31,431 electors before the SIR, now has 1,69,384. Similarly, Ballygunge's electorate was reduced by 55,406; its count fell from 2,45,431 on Oct 27, 2025, to 1,90,025. For Shyampukur and Kolkata Port, voter numbers were reduced by 51,918 and 51,696, respectively.

Maniktala, under the Kolkata North parliamentary constituency, witnessed a 20% fall in electors. Beleghata had 2,71,431 voters before the SIR and now has 2,21,424 after the EC removed ineligible voters and added new ones. Rashbehari's voter count dropped to 1,64,839 from 2,11,431, while Entally now has 2,08,007 electors, down from 2,54,431.

Rajarhat-New Town had 3,20,097 electors before the SIR exercise; EC data shows it now has 2,75,301, a 14% reduction. In the Behala Purba, Tollygunge, Dum Dum, Jadavpur, and Behala Paschim assembly constituencies, the net voter deductions are 44,532, 43,548, 42,944, 41,109, and 36,899, respectively.

The voters marked ‘deleted' can now only file applications as new voters under Form 6. They are allowed to do so until the last day of filing nominations.

This deletion trend first became evident on the Dec 16 draft SIR list. The Jorasanko assembly segment's 1.9-lakh-strong voter list shrank by a massive 36.8%, the highest in Bengal. In this segment, 37,193 voters could not be traced, and 16,364 shifted elsewhere.

In the Chowringhee assembly segment, 74,553 voters were axed from the draft electoral roll, with 35,042 untraceable and 25,053 shifted. Assembly segments with high deletion rates share a common feature — a large number of untraceable and relocated voters.

In the final voter list published on Saturday, the deletions and additions in these segments did not alter the overall trend. An additional 25,000 electors in the Kolkata North and Kolkata South parliamentary constituencies, whose names were included in the draft roll, were excluded from the final lists published on Saturday.

According to EC data, 17,987 electors were deleted in Kolkata North, while 7,386 were removed across the 7 assembly segments under the Kolkata South Lok Sabha seat.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Holi wishes, messages and quotes !