Bidhannagar: 20% voters struck off roll in 3 key seats
Times of India | 19 April 2026
Kolkata: A sharp reduction in voter rolls across Salt Lake, New Town, Rajarhat-Gopalpur and adjoining areas under Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation post SIR has set the stage for an unusually tight contest in this year's assembly election, with all major parties recalibrating their strategies.
The SIR has led to the deletion of over one-fifth of voters in three key constituencies — Bidhannagar, Rajarhat-New Town and Rajarhat-Gopalpur — significantly altering the electoral landscape.
In Bidhannagar, which includes Salt Lake and parts of New Town, the electorate has shrunk by 22.4%, with number of voters dropping from 2.56 lakh to 1.98 lakh. Rajarhat-New Town has seen a similar trend with nearly 68,928 voters — or 21.5% — deleted from the roll, bringing the total down from 3.2 lakh to 2.51 lakh.
Rajarhat-Gopalpur, comprising rural pockets such as Gopalpur and Arjunpur along with urban areas like Teghoria and Baguiati, has also recorded a 20.4% drop, with 54,395 names struck off.
The large-scale deletions assume significance in seats where victory margins have fluctuated sharply in recent polls. In Rajarhat-New Town, TMC won by around 9,000 votes in 2011 and 2016 before securing a landslide margin of over 56,000 in 2021. The party trailed here in the 2024 LS poll.
SIR has also coincided with changes on the ground. Residents of large slum clusters such as Ghuni bustee — which the BJP alleged housed illegal Bangladeshi immigrants — have vacated the area. "The rolls have been cleaned up and fake voters removed," said Piyush Kanodia, BJP candidate from Rajarhat-New Town.
TMC alleged that genuine voters have been struck off. MLA Tapas Chatterjee said he remained confident despite what he termed as "unjust" deletions. In Bidhannagar, minister Sujit Bose faces a tougher fight. After winning by over 36,000 votes in 2011, his margins dropped to around 7,000-8,000 in last two polls. "Voters from one particular community and those from poorer sections have been targeted. Voters will respond to this on poll day," Bose added. Rajarhat-Gopalpur has seen shifting fortunes over the years. While TMC's Purnendu Bose won narrowly in 2016, Aditi Munshi secured a comfortable win in 2021. "I am confident of retaining the seat," Munshi said.