A delegation of ten Members of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Friday to express concerns regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The TMC accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of conducting the process in a “punitive” manner that disproportionately targets Bengali citizens, asserting that at least 40 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have died as a result of the SIR process. The delegation held the ECI responsible, with TMC MP Derek O’Brien stating, “Mr. Kumar and the Election Commission of India have blood on their hands.”
Accompanying O’Brien in the meeting were TMC MPs Dola Sena, Saket Gokhale, Mamata Thakur, and Mahua Moitra. The TMC’s memorandum raised questions about why an extensive SIR is being applied solely in West Bengal, while other border states, such as Tripura and Meghalaya, remain exempt. The TMC expressed skepticism over the SIR’s true objectives, querying whether its goal is to verify voters or to undermine the identity of Bengalis. They noted the absence of an SIR in Assam, questioning, “Was the SIR meant to protect the voter list or to quietly push Bengalis out of it?”
The ongoing SIR process includes multiple states and Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. TMC further questioned the ECI’s claim regarding the unreliability of electoral rolls, highlighting that the same lists were used in recent national and state elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “How did those rolls suddenly become ‘unreliable’ within a year?” asked TMC representatives, emphasizing that the rolls had been deemed sufficient to elect the Lok Sabha just last year.
The TMC’s criticism also focused on the deaths of BLOs during the SIR exercise. They reported that numerous BLOs have died under pressure related to their duties, with some families citing suicides as a result of the inhumane work environment imposed by the ECI. TMC alleged that inadequate training and unrealistic deadlines led to these tragic outcomes, urging accountability for the ECI and the CEC for the lives lost.
Additionally, the TMC accused the ECI of demonstrating biased responsiveness, claiming that concerns raised by the opposition are disregarded while issues brought up by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are prioritized. They expressed frustration over the ECI’s selective engagement and practices they deemed harmful to democratic integrity.
The TMC also highlighted evolving electoral rules that appear advantageous to the BJP, noting that the party’s leaders in West Bengal have made alarming claims about the deletion of approximately one crore voters’ names from the rolls. The TMC demanded clarification from the ECI on its impartiality in executing electoral procedures, as it related to the BJP’s political interests.
The SIR process in West Bengal began on November 4, 2025, with the distribution of enumeration forms to voters. As of late November, about 3.8 crore of the 7.6 crore voter forms had been digitized. The submission and digitization process is set to continue until December 4, 2025, with a draft of the electoral rolls expected to be published on December 9, 2025, and the final voter list due on February 7, 2026.
