Deleted Despite Documents: Inside West Bengal’s ‘Political’ SIR

#westbengalelection2026 #specialintensiverevision The run-up to elections in West Bengal has been anything but normal. The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has led to the exclusion of nearly 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls. Of these, 27 lakh were excluded after being placed “under adjudication” over “logical discrepancies” in their documents, a criterion the Commission has never used before. In this ground report, Sreenivasan Jain and his team visit ground zero to unpack the SIR chaos. The deletions do not appear random. Mounting evidence suggests that the design and implementation of the SIR have disproportionately affected Muslim voters. For many Muslim voters, the fear extends beyond disenfranchisement. Some worry about the prospect of detention and deportation. Sreenivasan also finds that this exercise has not spared even privileged voters. Several excluded voters blame the BJP for the Kafkaesque nightmare they are living through. Discontent is particularly visible among Bengal’s Matuas, a Scheduled Caste community that migrated from Bangladesh, and were wooed by the Modi government with the promise of citizenship under the CAA. Sreenivasan and his team visit a Matua colony in Nadia, where many Matuas are now disenfranchised and disillusioned with the BJP. Watch. Subscribe to Newslaundry: https://rzp.io/rzp/nlsm Power our election coverage: https://rzp.io/rzp/zTQadhQFFT Download the accessible Newslaundry app: https://www.newslaundry.com/download-app Join us on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va61... 00:00 - 01:12 Introduction to the voter roll crisis 01:13 - 02:37 The scale of disenfranchisement due to West Bengal's SIR 02:38 - 04:45 'Logical discrepancies' and adjudication 04:46 - 09:46 Documented voters deleted 09:47 - 10:49 How even privileged voters have been affected 10:50 - 13:45 Timing and political implications 13:46 - 18:56 Impact on political margins 18:57 - 22:15 The disillusionment of the Matua Community 22:16 - 24:32 Fear of detention and deportation 24:33 - 25:57 Power our election coverage Follow and engage with us on social media: Facebook:   / newslaundry   Twitter:   / newslaundry   Instagram:   / newslaundry