Voter purge leaves thousands in electoral limbo

Across Bihar and West Bengal, lakhs of voters were deleted from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, leaving them unable to vote in the 2025 and 2026 Assembly elections. Over 47 lakh names were deleted in Bihar and nearly 91 lakh in West Bengal. Shrabana Chatterjee and Senjuti Sengupta met some of those affected, documenting the uncertainty, paperwork, and repeated attempts to prove their citizenship and eligibility that followed the deletions

Reported by 2 sources

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Quick Revision

Prelims-testable facts

01The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise deleted over 47 lakh names from the electoral rolls in Bihar and nearly 91 lakh in West Bengal.
02The deletions left lakhs of voters unable to vote in the 2025 and 2026 Assembly elections.
03The term 'logical discrepancy' was used by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to justify the deletions.
04The use of 'logical discrepancy' to delete voters raises constitutional questions regarding citizenship verification and electoral integrity.
05The deletions of voters through SIR exercise have triggered debate over the balance between electoral integrity and inclusiveness.
06The ECI's voter roll purges using 'logical discrepancies' have impacted lakhs of voters, highlighting concerns over due process and voter rights.

Trap alerts

Most people think the deletions were due to errors in voter registration, but actually the ECI used 'logical discrepancies' to justify the deletions.
Most people think the deletions were limited to a specific region, but actually they affected lakhs of voters across Bihar and West Bengal.

Current-affairs link

The ECI's use of 'logical discrepancy' to delete voters has been criticized by various stakeholders, with some arguing that it violates the principles of due process and voter rights, as enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Prelims Practice MCQs

Single facteasy

How many names were deleted from the electoral rolls in Bihar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise?

A.Over 47 lakh names
B.Over 91 lakh names
C.Over 1 crore names
D.Over 10 lakh names

47 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls in Bihar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Multiple statementsmedium

Consider the following statements regarding Electoral Rolls Deletions in Bihar and West Bengal: 1. Over 1 crore names were deleted from the electoral rolls in Bihar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. 2. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise deleted lakhs of voters from the electoral rolls in Bihar and West Bengal. 3. The deletions from the electoral rolls affected the 2027 and 2028 Assembly elections. How many of the above statements are correct?

A.Only one
B.Only two
C.All three
D.None

Statement 1 is incorrect because the fact list states that over 47 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls in Bihar, not over 1 crore. Statement 2 is correct because it is supported by fact 3. Statement 3 is incorrect because the fact list mentions the 2025 and 2026 Assembly elections, not the 2027 and 2028 Assembly elections.

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