Kolkata, Nov 6
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.