Quick take: If your name was struck or held during West Bengal's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and you filed an appeal, you're not alone — and you're not finished. An RTI reply reflecting the status as of 7 August 2026 put total appeals at 38,10,620. Only about 82,782 (2.17%) had been decided. That left roughly 37.27 lakh (97.83%) still pending.
Of the decided cases, reporting pointed to a high restoration/inclusion share — around 91%, or 75,000+ inclusions. These figures are an administrative snapshot, not a prediction of what will happen to your individual appeal.
With civic polls expected around December 2026, and ward maps in Kolkata and Howrah also changing, there are actually two separate things to keep track of: your SIR appeal and your municipal ward.
Practical, non-partisan: If your appeal is pending, keep your paperwork ready, watch for official notices and don't assume that a long wait means rejection. At the same time, prepare separately for the civic-poll changes happening around your address.
What the RTI numbers say
The figures reported from the RTI response show the scale of the pending queue:
MetricFigure as of 7 Aug 2026Appeals filed38,10,620Appeals decided~82,782 (2.17%)Still pending~37.27 lakh (97.83%)Decided cases reportedly restored/included~91% / 75,000+
These numbers should be read as a snapshot of the process at that point in time.
A low number of decided appeals does not by itself mean that an individual appeal has failed. It can simply mean that the case remains in the queue.
Some district-level figures reported in the same period
- Kolkata South: 766 decided out of 39,751 appeals
- Kolkata North: 926 decided out of 29,503
- Howrah: 3,049 decided out of 1,64,909
The arithmetic explains why many applicants may still be waiting.
But your neighbour's outcome does not determine yours.
Your most important asset right now is your appeal number and paper trail.
What does "pending" mean for you?If you have a valid appeal acknowledgment and it has not yet been decided, don't treat silence as a rejection.
Do assume:
- Your appeal number is important — keep it safe.
- You may receive a notice or hearing communication.
- You may be asked to provide documents or appear for verification.
- Your case can still result in restoration/inclusion if the authorities accept your claim.
- Official order or notice lists may be published in batches.
Don't assume:
- "Deleted" on an old screenshot means you can never vote.
- No message for several weeks means your appeal has been rejected.
- Someone else's restoration guarantees yours.
- A middleman can make the process faster.
If someone offers a "special fix" in exchange for money, don't rely on them. Use the official election authorities and keep records of your application.
Your SIR appeal file: keep these readyDon't wait until a hearing notice arrives to start searching for documents.
Paper & ID checklist
- ☐ Photograph or write down your appeal number
- ☐ Note your filing date
- ☐ Keep your EPIC / voter ID
- ☐ Keep a digital copy of your EPIC
- ☐ Keep current residence proof, as applicable
- ☐ Keep copies of documents submitted with the appeal
- ☐ Keep copies of forms and annexures
- ☐ Note your Assembly Constituency
- ☐ Note your old part / serial number, if available
- ☐ Keep screenshots of relevant official status pages
If you receive a hearing date, carry the originals along with a photocopy set.
The objective is simple:
Don't make the election office reconstruct your case from scratch.
What should you do while your appeal is pending?1 Confirm that the appeal was actually registered
This is the first thing to establish.
If you filed an appeal and have an acknowledgment or appeal number, keep it.
If you don't have any acknowledgment at all, that's a different problem from having a registered appeal that is still pending.
If necessary, approach the relevant election office/BLO/ERO to establish whether the appeal was actually entered into the system.
2 Keep checking official notices
Don't rely entirely on personal messages or WhatsApp groups.
Watch the relevant:
- CEO West Bengal updates
- District election office notices
- ERO communications
- Hearing notices
- Published order lists
If an official notice contains your name or appeal number, save a copy.
3 Keep your mobile number active
If your application is connected to a mobile number, monitor it regularly.
Also check your email if you provided one.
A hearing or document request can matter much more than another social-media explanation of what SIR supposedly means.
4 If you're called for a hearing, go prepared
Take:
- Original EPIC
- Residence documents
- Other documents submitted with your appeal
- Appeal acknowledgment
- Copies of everything
- Any official notice you received
Arrive with the facts in order.
You don't need a dramatic argument.
You need to establish who you are, where you ordinarily reside, and why your electoral entry should be included/restored, according to the applicable procedure.
What if your appeal has been pending for weeks?Don't automatically file another appeal just because the first one hasn't moved.
First establish:
Was the original appeal registered?
If yes:
What is its current status?
Then:
Has any hearing, notice or order been issued?
If the answer is simply "pending", preserve the original appeal record and follow the official process rather than creating contradictory applications.
Keep your SIR appeal and civic-poll preparation separateThis is particularly important in Kolkata and Howrah.
There are two different electoral questions involved.
1. SIR appeal
This concerns whether your name is included/restored in the electoral roll.
2. Ward delimitation
This concerns which municipal ward your address falls within for civic elections.
One does not automatically resolve the other.
You could have your electoral entry restored while your municipal ward number changes.
So keep two separate checklists on your phone:
SIR file → appeal number, documents, notices, hearing and order.
Civic file → new ward, ward boundaries, electoral details and polling information.
Why the ward changes matterKolkata and Howrah are undergoing municipal ward reorganisation.
The reported proposals involve changes from roughly:
- Kolkata: 144 → 209 wards
- Howrah: 50 → 68 wards
The exact ward boundaries and final arrangements should be checked against the latest official delimitation notifications and maps.
This is separate from your SIR appeal.
Your house doesn't necessarily move because your ward number changes — but the political representative responsible for your neighbourhood can change.
That's why you should eventually check:
Address → municipal ward → ward boundaries → electoral details → candidate/representative
Don't assume your old ward number will remain valid.
Civic-poll checklistWhile waiting for your SIR appeal:
- ☐ Track ward delimitation notices for your city
- ☐ Check the new ward map once officially published
- ☐ Confirm which ward contains your address
- ☐ Check the corresponding electoral information
- ☐ Don't assume your old ward number remains unchanged
- ☐ Once your SIR issue is resolved, re-check your electoral entry
- ☐ Save the final information before civic-poll dates approach
The important part is not to wait for one process to finish before learning about the other.
If your appeal is restoredDon't stop at the word "restored."
Check the actual electoral entry.
Look at:
- Your name
- EPIC number
- Address
- Assembly Constituency
- Part number
- Serial number
If something is incorrect, deal with the correction through the appropriate electoral process.
The goal isn't merely to see your name appear somewhere on an order list.
The goal is to make sure your actual electoral entry is correct.
A simple follow-up note you can useIf you need to contact an election office, keep the message factual and short.
Subject: Status enquiry — SIR Appeal [NUMBER]
I filed an appeal on [date] regarding [deletion / objection outcome].
Appeal number: [NUMBER]
Name: [NAME]
EPIC: [XXXX]
Assembly Constituency: [AC]
Please confirm the current status of the appeal and whether any hearing, document submission or other action is pending from my side.
I remain available with my EPIC and supporting documents.
Mobile: [NUMBER]
No accusations. No political language.
Just create a clean administrative record.
District reality checkThe Kolkata South, Kolkata North and Howrah numbers reported in August show the same basic picture:
The queue was enormous compared with the number of cases already decided.
That explains why applicants may feel that nothing is happening.
But backlog and rejection are not the same thing.
The most useful mindset is:
Pending ≠ rejected.
At the same time, don't use "pending" as an excuse to stop checking.
Keep your documents ready. Watch the official notices. Follow your appeal number.
The two-minute routineIf you've already filed an appeal, you don't need to spend hours every day worrying about it.
Instead:
Once a week
1. Check official updates.
2. Check your phone/email for notices.
3. Keep your appeal number accessible.
4. Make sure your documents are still ready.
5. Separately track your municipal ward changes.
That's enough to keep the process from disappearing from your radar.
Bottom lineAs of the 7 August 2026 RTI snapshot, West Bengal had 38.10 lakh SIR appeals, with roughly 37.27 lakh still pending after only about 82,782 had been decided.
The reported restoration rate among decided cases was high, but that does not guarantee the outcome of any individual appeal.
If your appeal is pending:
Keep the appeal number.
Keep your EPIC and residence documents.
Watch official notices.
Attend any hearing.
Don't assume silence means rejection.
And if you're in Kolkata or Howrah, remember that your SIR appeal and municipal ward delimitation are two separate tracks.
One determines your electoral-roll status.
The other determines which municipal ward you belong to.
Two files. One citizen. Stay on top of both.
Official channels
- Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal: Check the latest SIR notices, electoral-roll information and district-level updates.
- Election Commission of India: Use official voter-service channels for electoral information and applications.
- NetaSampark: Explore civic tools and representative information at https://netasampark.com/explore
Note: This is a non-partisan citizen information guide. SIR procedures, appeal timelines, ward boundaries and election schedules can change through official notifications. Always check the latest information issued by the Election Commission, CEO West Bengal or the relevant local authority.
Be informed. Be heard.