A major political confrontation has erupted in West Bengal over the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) levelling serious allegations against each other. The war of words intensified after a TMC delegation, led by MP Abhishek Banerjee, met the poll panel in Delhi on Wednesday.
Allegations of Infiltrators and Institutional Pressure
BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal launched a sharp attack on the TMC, alleging that the ruling party was creating an uproar over the SIR to protect illegal voters. She claimed that Bangladeshi infiltrators had been provided with voter ID cards, Aadhaar cards, and enrolled as TMC voters. Tibrewal questioned the TMC's confidence, asking why the party was protesting the revision if it was so sure of winning the upcoming assembly polls.
"They could not stop the SIR, so now they are trying to stop the hearing process. Camps are being burnt. EC is being attacked," Tibrewal told ANI. She defended the SIR, stating there have been no deaths directly linked to the exercise and dismissed reports of suicides, suggesting they could be murders. She also referenced past political violence, alleging that 300 BJP workers were killed after the 2021 elections.
TMC's Charge of "Vote Theft" and Unanswered Questions
On the other side, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the Election Commission of facilitating "vote theft" and being influenced by the BJP. After a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the Commission on Wednesday, Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction, claiming the panel failed to provide clear answers to most of the delegation's questions.
Banerjee alleged that during a previous meeting on November 28, the ECI provided no precise answers but later selectively leaked information to journalists. "This time, except for two or three points, we didn't get any clarity on anything. When I ask them about the SIR, they shift the topic to citizenship," the Diamond Harbour MP stated.
He challenged Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to publicly debate the issues. "If he has the courage, he should come down, face the media, and rebut every point I am making," Banerjee said, asserting that the people of Bengal would defeat the BJP again in the 2026 assembly polls as they had in the past.
The Core Issue: Large-Scale Deletions and Political Fallout
The controversy centres on the SIR exercise in West Bengal, which has led to the deletion of a significant number of names from the electoral roll. According to the ECI, over 58.2 lakh (5.82 million) names were removed during the enumeration period. The draft voter list was published on December 16.
The TMC contends that the process is flawed and is disenfranchising legitimate voters, while the BJP asserts it is a necessary cleanup to remove illegal entries. With assembly elections scheduled for the first half of next year, the voter list revision has become a critical battleground, setting the stage for a highly charged electoral contest in the state.
