Millions of voters in India’s eastern state of West Bengal have been struck off electoral rolls ahead of a two-phase assembly election this month, triggering accusations that Muslims have been disproportionately affected, says Aljazeera.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) carried out a “special intensive revision” (SIR) of voter lists earlier this month, removing more than nine million names – nearly 12 per cent of the state’s 76 million registered voters.
Among those affected is 73-year-old Nabijan Mondal, who has voted in every election for five decades but now finds her name missing.
While her husband, children and their spouses remain on the rolls, she was excluded due to inconsistencies in her name across documents, appearing as “Nabijan” on her voter card and “Nabirul” on other official records.
“This time, my whole family will vote, but I won’t be able to,” she told Al Jazeera. “I do not understand things much and did not know the names being different would bar me from voting.”
Of the nine million removed, nearly six million have been classified as absent or deceased, while about three million must wait for special tribunals to verify their eligibility. With hearings unlikely to be completed before polling on 23 April and 29 April, many may be unable to vote.
The Supreme Court has said those with pending cases cannot vote in the upcoming election, though it allowed the ECI to consider publishing supplementary voter lists.
West Bengal, governed by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) since 2011, has never been won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Muslims account for roughly 27 per cent of the state’s population of 106 million.
Analyses of the deletions suggest that districts with large Muslim populations have seen the highest numbers removed, including Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas and Malda.
Residents in affected areas cited documentation gaps, name discrepancies, migration records and inconsistencies in older electoral lists as reasons for exclusion.
Sohidul Islam, 49, from Murshidabad, said he had voted in previous elections but is no longer eligible. “I am in deep pain. Who will I approach?” he said. “Even if I lose money and time, I have to think ahead.”
The ECI says the revision aims to eliminate duplicate or ineligible voters while ensuring genuine voters are included. However, opposition parties and Muslim groups allege the process targets communities unlikely to support the BJP.
West Bengal BJP leader Bimal Sankar Nanda said the exercise was necessary to ensure electoral integrity. “No eligible Indian should be left out of voter lists, but there should be no ineligible voters on the list either,” he said, accusing the TMC of retaining names of “dead and shifted voters”.
He also pointed to demographic changes in border districts, alleging the presence of non-citizens. Banerjee has challenged the process in the Supreme Court, alleging it was selectively applied in West Bengal to benefit the BJP. She said the ruling party was attempting to “forcefully capture votes through fraudulent means”.
The BJP has argued that the revision helps identify “illegal infiltrators”, often referring to migrants from Bangladesh or Rohingya refugees.
Sabir Ahamed of the Kolkata-based SABAR Institute said the speed of the revision raised concerns. “There seems to be some motive behind such a hurried activity,” he said, noting that electoral roll revisions typically take one to two years.
The institute’s analysis of constituencies including Nandigram and Bhabanipur found that Muslims accounted for a disproportionately high share of deleted names relative to their population.
Swati Narayan, a law academic, said women and poorer voters were particularly vulnerable due to documentation requirements.
“Most women, especially Muslim women, are given different surnames before and after marriage,” she said, adding that translation errors and informal naming practices added to the problem.
Jesmina Khatun, 31, said her name was removed despite having all required documents, citing minor spelling differences in her father’s name.
Political analyst Yogendra Yadav said the process imposed an “excessive burden” on women, who often need to produce documents linked to both marital and parental homes.
“The problem lies with the state,” he said. “It demands of people documents that it has never provided.” For many affected voters, the uncertainty remains acute.
“If you dig this land, you can find our umbilical cords here,
