95% of voters removed from electoral rolls in Nandigram, West Bengal's most politically sensitive constituency, are Muslim, according to data released following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
The revelation has sparked fierce controversy in a constituency that became the epicenter of West Bengal's 2021 assembly elections, where Mamata Banerjee faced off against her former protégé Suvendu Adhikari, who had defected to the BJP.
According to Hindustan Times, the disproportionate removal of Muslim voters has raised questions about the integrity of the electoral revision process in a state where communal polarization has intensified ahead of upcoming elections.
A billion people aren't a statistic - they're a billion stories. For Ayesha Khatun, a 42-year-old teacher in Nandigram, discovering her name had been struck from the voter list felt like losing her citizenship. "I've voted here for 20 years," she told local media. "Now they say I don't exist."
The Special Intensive Revision is a periodic exercise to update voter rolls by removing deceased persons, duplicate entries, and people who have relocated. However, civil society groups have questioned why the removals so overwhelmingly affected one religious community.
Nandigram holds symbolic importance far beyond its 2.3 lakh voters. In 2007, it was the site of violent protests against land acquisition that killed 14 people and launched Mamata Banerjee's political ascent. In 2021, she chose to contest from Nandigram in a high-stakes battle she narrowly lost by 1,956 votes amid allegations of irregularities.
The Trinamool Congress has accused the Election Commission of partisan conduct, while the BJP has defended the revision as routine housekeeping. said a senior TMC leader who requested anonymity.
