Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to halt the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, calling the situation “deeply alarming”.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the West Bengal chief minister claimed the SIR process is being conducted in an “unplanned and coercive” manner, which is putting the citizens and officials at risk.
“I am compelled to write to you as the situation surrounding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has reached a deeply alarming stage. The manner in which this exercise is being forced upon officials and citizens is not only unplanned and chaotic, but also dangerous,” Mamata claimed.
Describing the exercise as chaotic, the Bengal CM pointed out critical gaps in training, confusion over mandatory documentation and the near-impossibility for booth-level officers (BLOs) to meet voters during their working hours.
“I would request you to kindly intervene decisively to halt the ongoing exercise, stop coercive measures, provide proper training and support, and thoroughly reassess the present methodology and timelines,” she said in the letter.
To highlight human plight, Mamata cited the suicide of an anganwadi worker in Jalpaiguri district’s Mal. Serving as a BLO, she reportedly faced “crushing SIR-related pressure,” Mamata stated, adding that several others have also paid with their lives since the process began.
“If this path is not corrected without delay, the consequences for the system, the officials, and the citizens-will be irreversible. This intervention is not only necessary but imperative to protect the integrity of the electoral process and our democratic framework,” Mamata wrote.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee writes to CEC Gyanesh Kumar – “…I am compelled to write to you as the situation surrounding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has reached a deeply alarming stage. The manner in which this exercise is being forced upon officials and… pic.twitter.com/n02aQ24eS3
— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2025
‘Trinamool rattled’
The BJP was quick to hit back at Mamata, saying that her letter to ECI reflected the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) concern about losing voter support.
In a post on X, BJP’s national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said Mamata’s letter is nothing short of an admission that TMC’s top leadership is ‘rattled.
“For years, TMC quietly benefited from illegal infiltration and bogus voters. Now that the voter list is being cleaned through SIR and fake entries are being removed, Mamata is panicking. A nervous, desperate TMC is trying to shield the very ecosystem that kept it in power,” Bhandari wrote on the social media platform.
Senior BJP leader and IT Cell head Amit Malviya said Mamata will continue to “complain and dramatize” the SIR process because the pressure is mounting and she faces the risk of a heavy electoral defeat in the first half of 2026, when Assembly polls are due in West Bengal.
“Her political survival depends on shielding a voter base created through fraudulent and illegal means,” Malviya wrote on X. “In 2026, West Bengal will elect a Chief Minister for the state, not someone who behaves as though she is the provincial leader of East Pakistan.”
