In the wake of a four-month rigorous process, the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has virtually concluded in poll-bound West Bengal, with the final voters’ list seeing over 63 lakh deletions or 9% of the total electorate and over 60 lakh voters (8.5%) being placed “under adjudication”.Here are some major takeaways from the contentious Bengal SIR exercise, which saw a sustained face-off between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government and the EC ahead of the state Assembly polls due in March-April.Final rollsAdvertisementOver 63.66 lakh (63,66,952) voters have been deleted in the final electoral rolls published Saturday, according to Manoj Agarwal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.Also Read | Fate of 60 lakh Bengal voters in limbo; EROs, electors in dark on process, reasons why names were flaggedMore than 60 lakh electors (60,06,675) have been marked as “under adjudication”, with the Supreme Court-appointed judicial officers reviewing their eligibility, the CEO said.Consequently, the list is not final in the state as the apex court has ordered the supplementary lists following this review to be treated as part of it, which are expected in the coming weeks.AdvertisementThe electors not cleared by judicial officers in time may lose their right to vote in the upcoming polls.After the SIR’s final phase, Bengal now has about 7.04 crore voters, including over 60 lakh electors under adjudication. Before the SIR exercise, the state had nearly 7.66 crore electors.Political Pulse | TMC MP to Supreme Court on SIR: Unauthorised reviews, dodgy log-ins, blurred papersMicro-observers, judicial officersThe Bengal SIR saw some unprecedented developments, which were never witnessed before during such an exercise in any other state. After the publication of draft rolls in December, the EC, in a first for the electoral revision process, deployed more than 8,000 micro-observers in the state.This led to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appearing before the Supreme Court to argue her case against the SIR, alleging that the EC was “targeting” Bengal and “bulldozing” its people.In her submission before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, the CM asked why the EC was only appointing micro- observers for the SIR in Bengal while the exercise was also continuing in eight other states and three Union Territories (UTs). She alleged that these micro-observers were mostly government officials from the BJP-ruled states.Also Read | Mamata govt to provide Home Guard job to families of SIR victimsThe micro-observers were deployed to review the decisions taken by the state government officers – the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs (AEROs), who are the statutory authority for maintaining rolls.Subsequently, on the top court’s orders, around 500 judicial officers from Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha have been tasked with deciding whether 60 lakh registered electors – flagged by the micro-observers as “doubtful” but cleared by the EROs – should be restored to the rolls or deleted.Political conflictAcross the entire SIR process, Bengal witnessed a fierce political battle between the TMC and the principal Opposition BJP, which turned the issue as a key plank for both camps in the polls.While the TMC accused the EC of working as an “agent” of the BJP and “singling out” Bengal in a bid to delete its “genuine electors”, the BJP alleged that the incumbent party was trying to safeguard illegal immigrants, calling them its “vote bank”.Other Opposition parties like the CPI(M) and the Congress demanded a “foolproof voters’ list with only genuine voters”.Also Read | 60 lakh Bengal voters in balance: Tall order for deleted electors to return to rolls, say officials8.5% voters in limboThe fate of over 60 lakh voters currently hang in balance, which may turn out to be one of the deciding factors in the Assembly elections.Official data shows that the highest number of cases pending adjudication are in the Muslim-dominated districts like Murshidabad (11 lakh), Malda (8.28 lakh), South 24 Parganas (5.22 lakh) and North 24 Parganas (5 lakh). Jhargram and Kalimpong had the fewest pending cases at 6,682 and 6,790 cases respectively.Deletions in CM’s seatIn the draft voters’ list, more than 44,000 electors (over 20%) had been deleted in Bhabanipur, Mamata’s constituency in south Kolkata. The final rolls raised this figure to around 47,000, with about 14,000 names pending for adjudication.Expressing “shock” over so many voters being deleted in her constituency, especially in ward number 77, the CM said there should be no rigging of votes anywhere. Crying foul, she alleged that the EC has “deliberately” effected these deletions.In a by-election in 2021, Mamata had won from the Bhabanipur seat by over 58,000 votes.Decline in female votersThe final list includes 3,60,22,642 male voters, 3,44,35,260 female voters, and 1,382 voters of the third gender.According to the EC data, female electors dipped marginally following the SIR process. Some parties highlighted it, with Mamata claiming that female voters were “most vulnerable” in the exercise.When the SIR started in Bengal in October, female voters accounted for 49.23% of the electorate, which decreased in the draft rolls to 48.88% and 48.87% in the final rolls.