Did SIR Change Bengal Poll Results? Debate Intensifies After BJP’s Big Win

Following the West Bengal election results, a fresh political debate has erupted over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission of India. Many political analysts believe that the voter list revision exercise significantly altered the electoral landscape in the state.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has once again alleged “vote theft.” In a post on social media platform X, he wrote:

"Seats are sometimes stolen through vote theft, sometimes entire governments.

Out of the 240 BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha, roughly every sixth MP has won through vote theft. It's not hard to identify them - should we call them "infiltrators" in BJP's own language?

And Haryana? There, the entire government is "infiltrator."

The institutions they keep in their pockets, the ones that tamper with voter lists and the electoral process - those themselves are "remote controlled."

Their real fear is the truth. Because if fair elections were held, even today they couldn't win 140 seats."

वोट चोरी से कभी सीटें चुराई जाती हैं, कभी पूरी सरकार।

लोकसभा के 240 BJP सांसदों में से, मोटे तौर पर हर छठा सांसद वोट चोरी से जीता है। पहचानना मुश्किल नहीं - क्या उन्हें BJP की भाषा में “घुसपैठिए” कहें?

और हरियाणा? वहाँ तो पूरी सरकार ही “घुसपैठिया” है।

जो संस्थाएँ अपनी जेब में…

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 6, 2026

Did SIR Change the Outcome?

The contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) appears to have been heavily influenced by the SIR process. BJP secured around 46% vote share, while TMC led by Mamata Banerjee received about 41%—a difference of just 5%.

However, despite this relatively narrow gap, BJP swept the elections with a massive 207 seats, while TMC was reduced to just 80 seats.

According to official data, nearly 91 lakh voter names were removed during the SIR process—around 12% of the electorate. Additionally, the use of Form 7 (for deletion) and Form 6 (for new voter registration) reportedly created a gap of nearly 30 lakh votes between the two parties, which analysts believe a decisive factor in the outcome.

Impact on Close Contests

SIR is aimed at removing fake, deceased, or shifted voters from electoral rolls. However, opposition parties and several experts argue that in areas where large numbers of names were deleted, election outcomes shifted dramatically.

In at least 25 constituencies, BJP’s victory margin was reportedly lower than the number of voters removed from the rolls. Data also suggests that BJP won 128 seats with margins below 30,000 votes—while the number of deleted voters per seat during SIR was often comparable.

Out of 293 total seats in West Bengal, 176 were decided by margins under 30,000 votes, highlighting how small shifts could have had large political consequences.

Vote Share vs Seat Share

Despite a modest vote share difference, BJP secured a disproportionately high number of seats. The party reportedly received around 3.2 million more votes than TMC overall, averaging roughly 10,960 additional votes per seat.

In a key constituency like Bhabanipur, Mamata Banerjee lost by just over 15,000 votes—a figure reportedly lower than the number of deleted voters in that seat.

Political Allegations

After the results, TMC alleged that the SIR process disproportionately affected its voter base, especially among minority communities, thereby benefiting BJP.