SIR: Bengal voters with ‘weird family-tree’ data come under ECI’s scanner
Kolkata, Dec 13 (LatestNewsX) – The final midnight cut‑off for the online Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal has just passed, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) has flagged a number of voters whose family‑tree details look “strange” during the “progeny mapping” checks.
Sources from the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO’s) office say the first group of voters with questionable family data are those who have opted for “progeny mapping” to keep their names on the rolls, even though they are 45 years old or older.
“The last SIR in West Bengal took place in 2002,” the source added. “Anyone who is now 45 or older would have been eligible to vote back then, given the 18‑year minimum age. So why didn’t these people register themselves as voters in 2002, forcing them to rely on ‘progeny mapping’ instead of the usual ‘self‑mapping’ to secure their spots on the current list?”
In contrast, a voter who appears on the 2002 list as well as on the current rolls as of Oct 27, 2025 is considered a self‑mapping voter. A progeny‑mapping voter, on the other hand, shows up only through their parents’ names on the 2002 list.
The second suspicious group involves voters whose fathers were 15 years of age or younger when they had them. The Commission estimates about 1.2 million people fall into this category.
A third set of voters has the oddity that both their parents share the same name; this group is roughly 1.3 million strong.
The fourth group consists of voters whose grandfathers were 40 or younger when they had their grandkids. This category is estimated at about 350,000 individuals.
“In total, the ECI identified around 1.5 crore voters with data that raise red flags,” the source reported. “All of them will be called to a hearing where we’ll request clarifications on the questionable details.”
The provisional voter list will appear on Dec 16, concluding the first phase of the three‑stage SIR. The next step will be to tackle any claims and objections. The final list is slated for publication on Feb 14, 2026.
Soon after that, the ECI is expected to announce the dates for the upcoming state assembly elections.
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