West Bengal's political arena is witnessing a fierce showdown between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a move that has intensified the political climate ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated the SIR, the first large-scale revision since 2002, aiming to refine the voter list by removing ineligible names and ensuring no legitimate voter is excluded. This process involves over 80,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) conducting door-to-door verification across the state, targeting 7.6 crore voters.
The TMC, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has strongly opposed the SIR, alleging that it is a politically motivated exercise orchestrated by the BJP to manipulate the voter list and disenfranchise specific communities and opposition supporters. Banerjee has accused the BJP of attempting to rig the upcoming elections through "silent, invisible rigging". She has also claimed that an "environment of fear" has been created across the state due to the revision process. Mamata Banerjee along with her nephew Abhishek Banerjee led a protest march in Kolkata on November 4 against the SIR.
The BJP, on the other hand, defends the SIR as a crucial step towards ensuring transparency and accountability in the electoral process. The party claims the revision aims to remove "Rohingyas, infiltrators, and ghost voters" from the state's records, thereby paving the way for a fair and transparent election. BJP leaders have dismissed the TMC's allegations as baseless and politically motivated.
The SIR process has also triggered concerns and protests from BLOs, who are primarily government employees, including teachers. They have raised issues regarding duty hours, security cover, and official duty status during training sessions. Many teachers have alleged that their schools marked them "absent" during training hours and demanded to be marked "on duty". Some women teachers have refused to work after evening hours without security.
The political blame game has further intensified with accusations of misinformation and intimidation. The TMC has been accused of spreading misinformation, equating the SIR process to NRC registration and warning of detention camps. Opposition parties have alleged that the TMC is deliberately misleading voters to secure victory in the 2026 assembly polls. The BJP, in turn, has accused CM Mamata Banerjee of threatening BLOs to sabotage the SIR exercise.
The controversy surrounding the SIR has deepened with reports of suicides allegedly linked to fears over the revision process. The TMC has claimed that several people have died in Bengal due to fear over the SIR. Mamata Banerjee has blamed the BJP for creating a "fear psychosis" that led to these tragedies. The BJP has dismissed these claims, attributing the deaths to family disputes or financial crises.
As the SIR process unfolds, both the TMC and BJP have geared up for intense verification processes. The TMC has established help desks to assist people in verifying their voter details, submitting claims and objections, and reporting irregularities. The BJP is relying on what it terms a "cleansing" of West Bengal's voter rolls. The ECI has outlined a detailed schedule for the SIR, with draft rolls to be published on December 9, 2025, and the final list on February 7, 2026. The outcome of this intense political battle over the SIR will likely have significant implications for the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal.
