Election Commission data shows a sharp voter decline in West Bengal’s mining and industrial belt after the draft roll, final roll and adjudication process of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with Paschim Bardhaman district recording a 15.55% decline, the steepest drop in voter rolls among the 16 districts going to polls in the first phase.
Bengal saw a net deletion of 6.2 million voters between the pre-SIR and pre-adjudication exercise, while another 2.7 million were deleted in the adjudication exercise.
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Elections for the 294-member Assembly in the state are scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29. In the first phase, 152 assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts will go to the polls.
Among these 16 districts, Paschim Bardhaman registered a 15.55% decline in its voters. Before the SIR was rolled out, Paschim Bardhaman had 2.32 million voters; after the draft roll, final roll and adjudication, the number has come down to 1.96 million, according to EC data.
Paschim Bardhaman is a predominantly urban mining-industrial district with steel plants, coal mines, other industries and two municipal corporations. Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad are bordering districts. Uttar Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad are Muslim-majority districts.
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Paschim Bardhaman is followed closely by Uttar Dinajpur, which saw a 15.12% drop in voters, Darjeeling (14.11%), Dakshin Dinajpur (12.91%), Murshidabad (12.80%) and Malda (12.74%).
Darjeeling, the hill district in North Bengal, has the highest concentration of tea gardens and also houses Siliguri, the largest city in North Bengal and a gateway to the Northeast.
Meanwhile, Purba Medinipur, with just 2.87% deletion, has the lowest drop, followed by the tribal-majority districts of Bankura (3.77%), Jhargram (4.59%), Paschim Medinipur (6.10%) and Purulia (6.96%).
