Bengal SIR: Distribution of nearly 3 crore enumeration forms yet to be done
Kolkata: Six days after the start of the first of the three-stage Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in West Bengal, the distribution of enumeration forms for less than three core is yet to be finished.
According to figures from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, enumeration forms have been distributed to around 4.90 crore voters till 4 p.m. on Sunday.
The total number of electors in West Bengal as per the electoral roll as on October 27, 2025, is 7,66,37,529. The CEO’s office insiders are confident of completing the entire process of enumeration form distribution within the next three to four days.
An insider from the CEO’s office said that the distribution of enumeration forms in West Bengal is much faster than in 11 other states and union territories, where the same process began on November 4.
However, he added, the faster pace of enumeration form distribution in the state has also created doubts on what percentage of the forms were actually delivered at the voters’ doorsteps and how many were distributed by the BLOs concerned from a particular place.
Already, ECI has started a crackdown on the BLOs and has slapped show-cause notices on eight BLOs who have reportedly adopted the shortcut process of distributing the enumeration forms from a particular place, violating the ECI-prescribed norm of making door-to-door visits for the distribution of the forms.
These eight BLOs, ECI sources said, are from Cooch Behar, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas districts.
The sources said the ECI has once again directed the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) to keep a close watch on the activities of the BLOs during the revision process, so that the latter perform their duties in accordance with set guidelines.
The ECI has again cautioned the BLOs against giving the responsibility of enumeration forms to a third party, be it a relative or a friend, or an acquaintance, and warned that such actions would be deemed as a severe breach of conduct.
The ECI had also registered FIRs against eight booth-level agents of a particular political party on charges of interfering in the enumeration form distribution process and even taking possession of the forms from the BLOs and themselves distributing them.