Purging Millions from West Bengal’s Voters List Risks Disenfranchisement

• A controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the West Bengal electoral roll has led to the removal of 540,000 voters and placed over 6 million more under "adjudication."
• The process is being criticized for its lack of transparency, the use of error-prone AI, and its disproportionate impact on marginalized groups, particularly Muslims.
• The exercise has caused significant public distress, with reports of nearly a hundred deaths among overworked election officials and stressed voters since late 2025.

Flawed Bureaucracy and AI Errors

• The "Logical Discrepancy" (LD) category, created through AI, frequently flags legitimate names due to an inability to interpret common local abbreviations like "Sk." for Sheikh.
• Data mismatches have been reported widely, even affecting prominent figures, with critics labeling the adjudication criteria as opaque and arbitrary.
• Field reports indicate that voters have had to attend hearings under extreme personal circumstances, including while mourning family deaths or attending weddings.

Evidence of Targeted Exclusion

• Research from the Kolkata-based Sabar Institute shows that Muslims are disproportionately represented in the LD list, even in constituencies where they make up a small minority.
• There is a strong correlation between districts where the BJP previously suffered electoral losses and the number of voters now placed under adjudication.
• The process mirrors historical disenfranchisement tactics seen elsewhere in South Asia, using legal and institutional hurdles to marginalize specific communities.

Broader Political Implications

• The timing of the SIR, coupled with the establishment of new fast-track Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) courts, has fueled accusations that the government aims to create a stateless population.
• Vulnerable groups, including the Matua community, face increased uncertainty regarding their citizenship status, turning the administrative exercise into a form of political exclusion.
• Civil society and political groups are calling for urgent action to challenge the institutional mechanisms currently stripping citizens of their voting rights.