Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, Manoj Agarwal, has announced that approximately 1.67 crore voters are under the scanner following the publication of the draft electoral rolls. This massive scrutiny comes after the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which led to the deletion of over 58 lakh voters from the list due to reasons like death and migration.
Unveiling the Discrepancies: A Data Deep Dive
The draft rolls, published on Tuesday, December 17, 2025, revealed a series of startling data anomalies upon analysis. The CEO pointed out several categories of logical discrepancies that have put these crores of entries in question.
Among the most significant findings are around 85 lakh (8.5 million) voters with a mismatch in their father's names. Furthermore, data flagged over 11 lakh (1.1 million) electors who have an age difference of less than 15 years with their parents, a biologically improbable scenario. Other categories include over 2.36 lakh voters whose listed fathers have more than six children, and nearly 13 lakh cases of gender mismatch.
"The hearings will start within seven days for those who have no mapping with the 2002 SIR, while others with logical discrepancies will be studied," Agarwal stated during a press conference in Kolkata. He clarified that as many electors fall into multiple discrepancy categories, the unique number of logical discrepancies is 1.36 crore, with an additional 31 lakh having no mapping with the 2002 revision, bringing the total to 1.67 crore.
Three-Pronged Strategy for Rectification
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has equipped Booth Level Officers (BLOs) with a new three-option system within their application to manage this cleanup. BLOs are now instructed to categorize individuals with discrepancies into three groups: 'edit' for correcting wrong information, 'not to be called in hearing' for resolved issues, and 'hearing' for those requiring further scrutiny.
The responsibility for accuracy has been squarely placed on the BLOs. A senior ECI officer emphasized that any incorrect input found after this exercise will lead to action against the concerned BLO. "Even after this exercise, in case any wrong input is found, the concerned BLO would be held responsible," the officer warned.
Strict Action Assured, Hearings to be Expedited
CEO Manoj Agarwal issued a stern warning, promising strict consequences for any official found responsible for major wrongdoing in the enrollment process. "There are some problems in the data. We will correct them very soon. Action will be taken against those responsible for major wrongdoing," he asserted.
He outlined a zero-tolerance policy for both inclusion and exclusion errors: "Even if one valid voter’s name is left out, strict action will be taken against the official concerned. If there is any allegation that a valid voter’s name has been omitted or if it is noticed that the name of an invalid voter... has been deliberately included... in both cases, strict action will be taken."
To manage the enormous task of hearings, the state election machinery has sought permission from the ECI to allow Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) to dispose of hearings alongside Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). They have also requested the recruitment of additional AEROs. Agarwal assured voters that anyone missing their scheduled hearing slot would be given another opportunity.
