West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has again raised her pitch against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged that Election Commission (EC) officials were “threatening” officers of her government and “acting under political influence” even before the announcement of Assembly poll dates.
Speaking at the State Secretariat, Ms. Banerjee said she will not tolerate such a situation. She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “playing with fire” in the name of SIR. “There are attempts to conduct a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the garb of SIR in the State,” Ms. Banerjee said.
‘NRC in disguise’
Ms. Banerjee said notices from the Foreigners’ Tribunals of Assam are being issued to citizens of West Bengal amid the festival season. “This SIR is not what it appears. It is being used as a cover to carry out an NRC-type process in West Bengal,” Ms. Banerjee said.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the names of about one crore voters will be deleted if the SIR is carried out properly in West Bengal.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Adhikari said there has been a change in demography in the districts of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh because of the unwillingness of the Trinamool Congress government to give land to BSF to erect barbed wire fencing. He claimed that 540 km of border with Bangladesh is lying unfenced.
Mr. Adhikari claimed that the average national rate of growth of voters between 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2024 Lok Sabha polls was 7% whereas the rate of increase of voters in certain Assembly constituencies of West Bengal was well above the national average. He said the increase of voters in Rajarhat Gopalpur Assembly seat was 28%, Domkal 30% and Jalangi 28%.
While Rajarhat is located in north eastern fringes of Kolkata, Domkal and Jalangi Assembly seats are in State’s Murshidabad district. The BJP leader also expressed concerns over the security of BLO ( Block Level Officers) during the SIR in the State.
Meanwhile, the EC has stepped up activities for conducting SIR with a series of meetings over the past few days. On Wednesday, a team from the ECI led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti assessed the State’s readiness for conducting SIR. The ECI team held a series of meetings in Kolkata, Rajarhat-Gopalpur, and Barasat with District Electoral Officers and Booth Level Officers (BLOs). On Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal Manoj Agarwal held a meeting with officials of three districts.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Agarwal said these meetings are to assess SIR preparedness in the State. . The CEO did not say as to how much time it will take to conduct it but added that the exercise must be completed before the announcement of the Assembly election. Mr. Agarwal said that the exercise was completed in three months in Bihar.
Sources in the office of the CEO said the notification for holding SIR in the State is expected anytime later this month. West Bengal will go for Assembly election in 2026.
Published – October 10, 2025 01:10 am IST
