Election officials distribute the SIR form in the Karimpur Assembly constituency, in Nadia, West Bengal.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party once again locked horns over the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal on Wednesday (November 12, 2025), with Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of issuing orders ‘favouring’ the BJP.
He was referring to an ECI notice dated November 11, allowing the appointment of political party-affiliated booth level agents (BLAs) for a certain polling station, who might be electors at a different polling booth in the same Assembly constituency.
“Earlier, the criteria was that the BLA has to be [an elector] of the same booth where they are being appointed, so they can help officers of that booth. Since the BJP cannot appoint BLAs within the same polling booths in around 75% cases, the Election Commission passed an order in their favour… They relaxed a stringent condition to accommodate the BJP,” Mr Banerjee alleged.
‘Totally biased’
The ECI’s notice to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all States and Union Territories modified its earlier guideline, saying that “in case of unavailability of BLA from the same Part of the electoral roll, BLA may be appointed from any registered elector of the same Assembly constituency.”
Mr. Banerjee alleged that the notice was “proof that the electoral body is working to ease the BJP’s problems, and no one else’s”, asking why the ECI deviated from its own previous guideline. “The Election Commission is totally biased… The way the Election Commission is destroying its own institutional legacy, it is embarassing for India’s democracy,” the Sreerampur MP said.
Delimitation impact
Citing the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, he also claimed that the electoral roll of 2002 cannot be taken into account by law, as West Bengal had also undergone a delimitation exercise in 2009.
“Where there has been delimitation, the electoral roll has to be revised. That has to be taken into consideration, and no electoral roll prior to delimitation will be taken into account. It is the law. In that case, 2002’s electoral roll cannot be considered. After delimitation, a new roll has been published, and when there has been a new electoral roll, authorities cannot do otherwise,” Mr. Banerjee said.
BJP response
The Leader of Opposition of the West Bengal Assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari responded to the Trinamool’s allegations, asking why BLAs cannot hail from a different polling booth during an SIR, given that, during elections, polling agents can hail from a different booth in the same Constituency.
“If we can consider the Assembly [constituency] as the centre in case of appointing polling agents in booths, then they must consider Assembly [constituency] as the centre in case of appointing BLA-2s. Yesterday, Election Commission gave a concession that BLA-2 of any political party can hail from a different booth in the same Assembly constituency,” Mr. Adhikari said.
BLO party affiliations
A BJP delegation met the West Bengal CEO on Wednesday, raising several concerns, including the political affiliation of booth-level officers (BLOs) carrying out the SIR exercise and duplication of voters.
“We submitted a pen drive and hard copies of proof of dead voters and 13.25 lakh double and triple entries [in emuneration forms]. The CEO accepted it and instructed officials to probe our allegations in all 294 Assembly constituencies,” Mr. Adhikari said.
He added that the BJP had flagged 5,700 BLOs over alleged violations of the ECI’s rules concerning their appointments, pointing out instances of political affiliations among BLOs. The BJP has sought the CEO office’s response on the outcome of their complaints, and the CEO has assured them of investigations and further action, he said.
Published – November 12, 2025 10:32 pm IST
