SIR begins in Bengal, only 32% names match in 2002 voters list

The Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls commenced its first phase in West Bengal on Tuesday. So far, the preliminary "mapping and matching" exercise has found that only 32.06 percent of names in the current voter list match the list used in the last SIR conducted in the state back in 2002, which serves as the current baseline. 

A senior official from the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office in West Bengal confirmed that the current electoral roll contains approximately 7.66 crore names. Initial checks have identified less than 2.46 crore voters whose names, or whose parents' names, were traceable in the 2002 list. The official noted that this figure is dynamic and could change as the painstaking "mapping and matching" work continues across the state.

Crucially, voters whose names are successfully matched with the 2002 data will be automatically considered valid. They are only required to submit the filled-out enumeration form with their basic details; they will not need to provide additional supporting documents. However, for the large segment of voters—the nearly two-thirds whose names do not match the 2002 list—submitting at least one prescribed document specified by the ECI will be mandatory.

Regarding documentation, while the Aadhaar card has been included in the list of acceptable documents, the Election Commission has made it explicitly clear that Aadhaar alone will not suffice for validation. The Commission has issued strict guidelines stating that Aadhaar will be accepted neither as a proof of citizenship nor as proof of age, necessitating the submission of supporting documents for voters not traceable in the 2002 record.