Higher Voter Deletions Associated with Increased Turnout in West Bengal's Phase 1 Election

West Bengal's Polling Data Reveals Surprising Trends

West Bengal's first-phase polling data suggests that constituencies that saw higher voter deletions under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process recorded stronger turnout than the state average. An analysis of Phase 1 constituencies shows that the average voter turnout stood at 89.9 percent overall. However, in seats where voter deletions were higher than the state average, turnout rose to 90.9 percent.

The data indicates that constituencies with sharper electoral roll revisions may also have seen stronger mobilisation by political parties and voters. This trend can be attributed to the 3.6 percent of voter records that were deleted in the state between the draft roll and the list released by the Election Commission.

Turnout Higher in Muslim-Majority Seats

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The trend was even stronger in constituencies with a higher Muslim population share, where deletions were also elevated. In these seats, the average turnout touched 91.2 percent, around 1.3 percentage points higher than the overall Phase 1 average. Several Muslim-majority seats in Murshidabad and Malda were among the top performers in turnout, with Raghunathganj recording 95.64 percent, Samserganj 95.34 percent, Bhagabangola 95.31 percent, and Lalgola 95.07 percent. Notably, Raghunathganj and Samserganj witnessed over 20 percent of voters deleted from the rolls.

Participation Gap Persists

The analysis also shows lower turnout in female-dominant constituencies, where the share of women was considerably higher than the state average of 48.8 percent. Seats with a higher female share of population recorded an average turnout of 87.7 percent, compared with 90.4 percent in male-dominated seats. This points to a persistent participation gap in areas where women make up a larger share of the electorate, despite Bengal's historically strong female turnout trend.

ST Seats Trail SC Seats

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Reserved tribal constituencies also lagged behind other segments. The average turnout in ST seats stood at 89.6 percent, below 90.8 percent in SC seats. Some hill and tribal seats saw among the lowest turnout in the phase, including Darjeeling (81.23 percent) and Kurseong (81.18 percent).