West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again put forward her stand against the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged that Election Commission (EC) officials were 'threatening' officials of her government and 'acting under political influence' even before announcing the Assembly election 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 efforts to set up 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 issued to citizens of West Bengal during the festival season. “This SIR is not what it seems. It is being used as a cover to carry out an NRC-like process in West Bengal,” Ms Banerjee said.
Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said names of around one million voters will be deleted if the SIR is properly implemented in West Bengal.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Adhikari said there has been a demographic change in the districts of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh due to the Trinamool Congress government's reluctance to give land to the BSF for erecting barbed wire fencing. He claimed that 540 km of the Bangladesh border is unfenced.
Mr. Adhikari claimed that the average national growth rate in the number of voters between the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was 7%, while the growth rate in the number of voters in certain West Bengal Assembly constituencies was well above the national average. He said the increase in voters in Rajarhat Gopalpur Assembly seat was 28%, Domkal 30% and Jalangi 28%.
While Rajarhat is located in the northeastern outskirts of Kolkata, the Domkal and Jalangi Assembly seats are in Murshidabad district of the state. The BJP leader also expressed concern over the safety of BLO (Block Level Officers) during the SIR in the state.
Meanwhile, the EC has stepped up activities to implement SIR in recent days with a series of meetings. On Wednesday, an ECI team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti assessed the state's readiness to conduct an SIR. The ECI team held a series of meetings in Kolkata, Rajarhat-Gopalpur and Barasat with district election officials and Booth Level Officers (BLOs). On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal held a meeting with officials of three districts.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Agarwal said these meetings are aimed at assessing SIR preparedness in the state. . The CEO did not say how much time it will take to implement this, but added that the exercise must be completed before the announcement of the Assembly election. Mr. Agarwal said the exercise in Bihar was completed in three months.
Sources in the CEO's office said the notification for holding SIR in the state is expected later this month. West Bengal will stand for parliamentary elections in 2026.
Published – Oct 10, 2025 01:10 IST
