West Bengal Electoral Purge: Mamata's Bhabanipur Records 4X More Voter Deletions Than Adhikari's Nandigram

Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari (File).

Kolkata:

According to data released by the Election Commission (EC) on Friday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur constituency has experienced one of the highest voter deletions in West Bengal, with nearly four times more removals than Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari's Nandigram.

The EC published these figures following the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process enumeration deadline, revealing significant disparities across constituencies and introducing new political dynamics ahead of next week's draft electoral rolls.

The data indicates that Bhabanipur in south Kolkata, considered Banerjee's stronghold, recorded 44,787 deletions from the 2,06,295 voters registered in January 2025. In contrast, Nandigram, the epicenter of the anti-land acquisition movement that brought TMC to power in 2011 and Adhikari's bastion, saw only 10,599 deletions from its 2,78,212 voters.

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The commission has categorized these deletions under standard classifications including deaths, relocations, untraceable addresses, and duplicate entries. Officials assert that consistent criteria were applied throughout the state.

Despite the political focus on Bhabanipur, it did not experience the highest deletion rate. Among Bengal's 294 Assembly constituencies, north Kolkata's Chowringhee, represented by TMC MLA Nayana Bandyopadhyay, topped the list with 74,553 voter removals. Bandyopadhyay, a three-time MLA, had secured the seat with a margin exceeding 44,000 votes in 2021.

Kolkata Port, represented by senior minister and Mayor Firhad Hakim, registered 63,730 deletions. Hakim, who has been elected thrice, had won by approximately 70,000 votes, solidifying his influence in the constituency.

In Tollygunge, held by minister Aroop Biswas, 35,309 names were removed. Biswas, a four-term MLA, had retained his seat in 2021 with a margin of about 50,000 votes, demonstrating his organizational control over one of Kolkata's politically vital regions.

Key BJP-held constituencies showed deletion numbers higher than Nandigram but lower than Kolkata Port. Asansol South, represented by Agnimitra Paul, recorded 39,202 deletions. Paul had won the seat by a narrow margin of barely 4,000 votes in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Siliguri, represented by Shankar Ghosh, reported 31,181 deletions. Ghosh, formerly with CPI(M) before joining BJP prior to the 2021 polls, had captured the seat with a margin exceeding 35,000 votes, marking a significant BJP breakthrough in north Bengal.

In Behala West, represented by suspended TMC MLA Partha Chatterjee, 52,247 names were removed, while neighboring Behala East, held by Ratna Chatterjee, saw 53,036 deletions.

Shyampukur, represented by minister Shashi Panja, recorded 42,303 deletions, while Ballygunge, represented by minister Babul Supriyo (former BJP MP and Union minister who switched to TMC after 2021), saw 65,171 deletions.

Other constituencies with high deletion rates included Dum Dum, held by education minister Bratya Basu, with 33,862 voters removed; North Dum Dum, represented by minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, with 33,912; and Chandannagar, represented by minister Indranil Sen, with 25,478.

At the district level, South 24 Parganas recorded the highest volume of deletions at 8,16,047. This district is considered a stronghold of TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who secured a victory margin exceeding 7 lakh votes from Diamond Harbour in the last Lok Sabha polls.

The lowest deletion count was in Kotulpur in Bankura, which reported 5,678 removals.

In total, more than 58 lakh names have been deleted during the first phase of the SIR process. The Election Commission will publish the draft electoral rolls on Tuesday.

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Responding to the figures, TMC spokesperson Krishanu Mitra stated that the party would examine the data carefully. "If dead voters or shifted voters have been omitted, we have no objection. However, if any legitimate voter has been deleted, we will contest this sinister motive democratically," he said.

Ghosh, BJP chief whip in the West Bengal assembly, claimed the deletions justify the need for SIR in West Bengal. "This confirms the volume of fake voters that has been TMC's actual strength in West Bengal," he remarked.

The Bhabanipur-Nandigram comparison carries heightened political significance due to the intense rivalry between Banerjee and Adhikari. In the 2021 Assembly election, Adhikari defeated Banerjee in Nandigram by 1,956 votes, prompting her to return to the Assembly months later through a Bhabanipur bypoll, which she won by 58,832 votes.

Meanwhile, a senior official from the CEO's office reported on Monday that more than 56.37 lakh voters across the state have been marked "uncollectible" during ongoing verification efforts. These include 23.98 lakh deceased voters, 10.95 lakh untraceable voters, 19.65 lakh shifted voters, 1.32 lakh duplicate entries, and 47,832 removed under other categories. Over 7.66 crore enumeration forms have been distributed statewide.

As Bengal approaches the 2026 Assembly elections, these emerging deletion patterns, particularly in politically symbolic constituencies, are likely to intensify debates between the TMC and BJP, increasing scrutiny of the draft electoral rolls once they are published next week.