In half of BJP’s Bengal wins, deleted voters outnumber margins: Scroll

An analysis finds voter deletions during a contentious revision exercise exceeded victory margins in dozens of seats

An analysis has cast fresh light on West Bengal’s electoral outcome, showing that in dozens of constituencies won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), removed voters outnumbered the party’s winning margins.

In as many as 105 Assembly seats won by the BJP, the number of voters removed during a special intensive revision (SIR) exceeded the party’s margin of victory, according to an analysis by Scroll.in.

Of these constituencies, 86 were seats the BJP had never previously secured, the digital-only news outlet reported on Wednesday.

Together, the seats accounted for roughly half of the party’s final tally of 207 in the 294-member Assembly on Monday, when it clinched a two-thirds majority, ending Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule, it added.

The SIR process, which unfolded over six months, proved deeply contentious.

It resulted in the deletion of around 9.1 million names -- shrinking the electorate by 12 percent -- with at least 2.7 million voters still under adjudication by special tribunals, the report said. The BJP was the only major party to support the exercise throughout.

While a strong anti-incumbency wave dented the Trinamool Congress -- reducing its tally from 215 seats to 80 -- the data suggests the revision process may also have shaped outcomes.

“In 86 swing seats, the BJP’s margin of victory was less than the total number of voters deleted during the SIR,” the report said, citing data from the Election Commission of India and the Kolkata-based Sabar Institute.

In Bankura’s Indus constituency, for instance, the BJP retained the seat by just 900 votes after 7,515 names were removed.

During the 2024 parliamentary polls, the Trinamool had led there by 9,000 votes.

Jadavpur, a historic stronghold in south Kolkata, offers another striking case.

Scroll reported, “The SIR excluded more than 56,000 names in total from the rolls in Jadavpur.”

The BJP went on to win the seat for the first time by 27,716 votes, more than doubling its previous tally.

The impact was also visible in traditional Trinamool bastions.

In Tollyganj, minister Aroop Biswas lost by 6,013 votes, while deletions stood at 37,889.

At least 10 other ministers suffered similar defeats, where removed voters outnumbered their margins.

Even Mamata herself lost Bhabanipur by 15,105 votes to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, in a constituency where over 51,000 names were struck off.