A recent report has revealed a striking disproportionality in voter deletions in West Bengal’s Nandigram Assembly constituency following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Data from the SABAR Institute, a Kolkata-based research organisation, shows that an overwhelming 95 per cent of the names removed from the supplementary electoral lists are Muslims, despite the community accounting for only about 26 per cent of the constituency’s electorate in the 2021 Assembly elections.
In total, 2,826 names were deleted from Nandigram’s supplementary rolls, of which 2,700 belong to Muslim voters. More than 10,500 cases in the assembly segment have been marked “under adjudication”.
Muslims accounted for around 33 per cent of those on the December 2025 ASDD list.
"For the first time, a full analysis of supplementary list deletions in Nandigram Assembly constituency reveals a stark and alarming disproportionality," SABAR Institute said in post on X. "This raises serious concerns about the SIR process and its impact," it added.
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Sabir Ahamed of the Sabar Institute said the analysis suggests that the SIR process was conducted with a political motive of purging Muslim names to secure electoral advantage for one party.
"The deleted voters are unlikely to be able to vote this time, as the appeals process will take time,” he told the Telegraph newspaper.
The constituency is currently represented by senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a high-stakes contest in the 2021 Assembly elections. Adhikari is now seeking to retain the seat, while the Trinamool Congress has fielded Pabitra Kar, a former BJP leader, in a bid to reclaim it.
Given the narrow margin of Adhikari’s victory in the last elections, any irregularities in the voter list could carry significant political implications. In 2021, Nandigram had over 68,000 Muslim voters, accounting for roughly 26 per cent of the electorate.
Nandigram is among the constituencies going to the polls in the first phase of the Assembly elections, for which the nomination deadline was April 6. With the publication of the final supplementary list, the electoral rolls for the first phase have now been “frozen” as of midnight on Monday, in accordance with prescribed norms.
"There will be no further inclusion in the electoral roll at this stage. The list stands frozen as per law following the last date of nomination for the first phase," a senior Election Commission official told PTI news agency.