‘Math Isn’t Mathing’: IIM Calcutta Prof Disenfranchised as 91 Lakh Names Deleted in Bengal SIR Exercise

Nandita Roy – Assistant Professor of IIM-C 

Aparajita Das — April 15, 2026

KOLKATA – In a development that has raised serious questions over the transparency of the Special Internal Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) has found her name deleted from the voter list just days ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Professor Nandita Roy, who teaches Business Ethics and Communication at IIM Kolkata, has been a regular voter since 2009. Having recently shifted from the Jadavpur constituency to Rashbehari, she followed all legal protocols, including filing Form 8 and uploading linkage documents through her grandfather, a former Indian Air Force veteran.

Despite her name appearing in the draft list in December 2025, she discovered on March 31, 2026, that her name had been summarily deleted. When she confronted the Booth Level Officer (BLO), she was reportedly told she had been marked “untraceable” because she missed a single phone call.

“Like my students would say, the math isn’t mathing,” Professor Roy told reporters at a protest site. “Does missing one phone call mean you disenfranchise a genuine voter?”

Systemic Failures and Mass Deletions

The Professor’s case is not an isolated incident. According to recent data, approximately 91 lakh names have been removed from West Bengal’s voter list since the SIR exercise began. While the Election Commission maintains that the revision is necessary to remove “ghost voters” and duplicates, the scale and speed of the deletions have sparked a massive political and legal firestorm.

Critics argue that the SIR process, which reduced the state’s voter count from 7.66 crore to roughly 7.04 crore, was carried out too hurriedly. Professor Roy questioned why she was asked to register as a “fresh voter” via Form 6 instead of having her existing record updated.

“I am not a new voter. I have been voting since 2009,” she stated, dubbed the process “injustice” and citing a lack of proper hearings before deletions were finalized.

Legal Battle and Impact on 2026 Polls

The Supreme Court recently intervened, noting that “vital constitutional rights” are sacrosanct and that any deleted voter must be given a fair trial at an appellate tribunal. However, for many like Roy, the damage is already done. Even if the error is corrected later, they will likely be unable to cast their vote in the upcoming two-phase election on April 23 and 29.

With the Election Commission already shifting over 480 officials and deploying 2,400 companies of central forces to ensure a “fear-free” election, the controversy over voter deletions adds a new layer of tension. As the legal battle continues in the Supreme Court, the “IIM-C Professor story” has become the face of a growing movement demanding accountability in the electoral revision process.