In a sharp escalation of the political tussle over voter list revisions, West Bengal's Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has penned a strong rebuttal to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's criticisms of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In a letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday, January 5, 2026, Adhikari dismissed the Chief Minister's concerns as "factually inaccurate" and a "deliberate distortion" designed to tarnish the poll panel's image.
Allegations of Political Motive and Electoral Malpractice
Adhikari's missive comes in response to Banerjee's third letter to the CEC, written on Saturday, where she urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to either rectify glitches in the SIR process or halt the exercise altogether in the state. The BJP leader framed Banerjee's repeated communications as evidence of "political desperation."
He argued that her "barrage of unsubstantiated accusations" against the ECI is a frantic bid to derail a constitutional exercise that threatens to expose irregularities in the voter rolls. "A rot that her Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime has nurtured and exploited for electoral gains over the past decade," Adhikari alleged in the letter.
Defending the SIR Process and IT Systems
Countering Banerjee's characterization of the SIR as an "unplanned, ill-prepared, and ad hoc farce," Adhikari described it as a "meticulously orchestrated national initiative." He stated its goal is to purge the system of duplicate, bogus, and ineligible entries that have compromised the sanctity of the electoral process.
Addressing specific technical grievances raised by the CM, Adhikari asserted that the IT systems, far from being defective, "have processed millions of entries seamlessly." He highlighted the use of real-time dashboards for transparency. Regarding instructions being issued via digital channels like WhatsApp, Adhikari defended the practice as a "modern, agile tool" for urgent clarifications in a time-bound exercise, supplemented by formal circulars where required.
A Call to Halt Labelled an 'Admission of Defeat'
Adhikari concluded by asserting that the Chief Minister's ultimate request to stop the SIR is telling. "The Hon'ble Chief Minister's call to 'halt' the SIR is nothing short of an admission of defeat – a brazen attempt to perpetuate the electoral malfeasance that has defined her tenure," he wrote.
He accused Banerjee of attempting to manufacture a false narrative of widespread discomfort to malign the ECI as "politically motivated." This exchange, occurring in the politically charged landscape of West Bengal, sets the stage for further confrontations between the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP over the integrity of the electoral roll ahead of future polls.
