Nearly nine in every ten voters whom the Election Commission of India (ECI) has appealed against removing from West Bengal’s electoral rolls, despite judicial officers clearing their inclusion, have Muslim names, an analysis by The Wire has found.
The pattern appears not only in Muslim-majority border districts but also in Hindu-majority constituencies far from the international border.
The analysis examined 16,08,175 appeals against the inclusion of voters who had been cleared by judicial officers during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Of these, at least 14,39,797, or 89.5%, had Muslim names.
Muslims account for around 27% of West Bengal’s population, according to the 2011 Census, and approximately 29% of the state’s electorate.
Pattern across constituencies
The analysis found that voters with Muslim names accounted for a large share of those targeted by the appeals across constituencies with different Muslim population levels.
In seats where Muslims make up less than 10% of the population, 61.7% of the voters appealed against had Muslim names. The figure rose to 83.8% in constituencies where Muslims account for 10% to 20% of the population.
In seats with a Muslim population share of 20% to 30%, the figure was 90.3%. It reached 93.8% in constituencies where Muslims make up 30% to 50% of the population and 96.6% in seats where they form a majority.
In 137 constituencies, at least 90% of the voters appealed against had Muslim names. Among 160 constituencies where Muslims account for less than a fifth of the population, 69 had appeals in which at least 80% of the affected voters had Muslim names.
High numbers in Hindu-majority districts
The pattern was also visible in districts with relatively small Muslim populations.
In Purba Medinipur, where Muslims make up around 12% of the population, 92.9% of the voters appealed against had Muslim names. The corresponding figures were 80.4% in Bankura, where Muslims account for 7.4% of the population, and 83.8% in Paschim Medinipur, where their share is 10.7%.
In Egra constituency in Purba Medinipur, where Muslims account for around 8% of the population, 94.9% of the voters appealed against had Muslim names. Similar figures were reported in Chandipur, Kanthi Dakshin and Ramnagar.
In the Muslim-majority district of Murshidabad, 98.2% of the voters appealed against had Muslim names.
The analysis also identified constituencies where most of the affected voters did not have Muslim names. However, in some of these seats, the proportion of voters with Muslim names among those appealed against was still higher than their share of the local population.
What the records show
The Wire noted that the ECI appealed against between 46% and 51% of voters cleared by judicial officers across all groups of constituencies. This suggests that the proportion of cleared voters challenged by the Commission remained broadly similar regardless of the Muslim population share.
However, the analysis found that the composition of the voters reaching the judicial stage was already heavily weighted towards people with Muslim names.
Of the 27,06,057 voters whose names were deleted by judicial officers, 22,17,619, or 82%, filed appeals before tribunals. Among these appellants, 79.3% had Muslim names.
A separate analysis by the SABAR Institute found that 70.17% of more than 27 lakh voters deleted from the “under adjudication” list were Muslim. The institute also reported that 51% of those deleted were women.
Combining the records of voters whose inclusion was challenged by the ECI and those who appealed against their deletion, The Wire found that at least 53.7% of the voters sent for judicial adjudication had Muslim names. The figure is a minimum estimate because the religious identity of the remaining voters was not established through the analysis.
The report cautioned that the two groups involved different voters and that the available records do not establish the religious composition of every person cleared by judicial officers.
ECI’s explanation and unanswered questions
In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on October 26, the Election Commission said the appeals had been filed by officers from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal in their capacity as authorities under the Representation of the People Act.
The Commission also said the voters concerned had uploaded their documents to the portal and had received favourable orders from judicial officers.
The Wire said it had written to the West Bengal CEO’s office and two additional chief electoral officers seeking details about who filed the appeals, the legal provisions used and the criteria for selecting voters whose inclusion was challenged.
It also sought clarification on whether local Electoral Registration Officers and Additional Electoral Registration Officers were consulted and whether each appeal was examined individually.
The report said it would be updated if the CEO’s office responded.
The analysis raises questions about the stages of the SIR process before cases reached judicial officers, including how voters were flagged for “logical discrepancies” and referred for adjudication.
