Voter rolls surge 21.8 pc in Bengal's border districts during 2009-2017 period: EC data

Kolkata, Nov 6 (IANS) Electoral roll data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) has revealed a substantial 21.8 per cent jump in the number of voters in West Bengal between 2009 and 2017, the highest surge across three defined phases of Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The ECI data indicate that the maximum increase during this phase, which encompassed the final two years of the Left Front government (2009-2011) and the initial six years of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime (2011-2017), was heavily concentrated in districts sharing international borders with Bangladesh.

ECI data showed that between 2002, when the previous SIR was conducted, and 2025, the year of the ongoing SIR, the highest rise in voter numbers in the state occurred during the 2009-2017 period.

According to ECI data, the number of voters jumped by 21.8 per cent between 2009 and 2017. However, in the earlier phase between 2002 and 2009, under the Left Front regime, the increase was 12 per cent. The same 12 per cent rise was recorded from 2017 to 2025, under the current Trinamool Congress government.

ECI data further indicates that between 2009 and 2017, the highest rise in voter numbers was recorded in districts sharing international borders with Bangladesh, including Cooch Behar, Malda, North Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas, among others.

During the 2009-2017 period, North Dinajpur recorded the highest rise in voter numbers, at nearly 105 per cent. In the other bordering districts mentioned earlier, the increase ranged between 72 and 95 per cent during the same period.

In fact, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had repeatedly urged the ECI to pay special attention to districts bordering Bangladesh. He also alleged that in several villages near the border, the population demography had undergone a complete change.

However, the Trinamool Congress leadership maintained that the BJP was raising this matter only to target the minority community and create misconceptions among the public.

--IANS

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