- By Raju Kumar
- Thu, 26 Mar 2026 12:33 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
West Bengal Elections 2026: A booth, number 5 in Boro Gobra village, in West Bengal’s Basirhat North Assembly constituency, is in the news after the names of 340 voters, including a BLO, were deleted from the electoral roll in the recently published supplementary list, following the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive conducted by the Election Commission of India. According to a report published by India Today, all the removed voters from the booth are from the Muslim community. They were previously marked as "under adjudication" in the SIR draft roll.
Their names were missing in the first supplementary list, published on March 25, triggering a political row amid intense campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in the state, which is scheduled to be held on April 23 and 29, in two phases.
CM Mamata Targets BJP, EC
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a blistering attack on the BJP, the Centre and the Election Commission on Wednesday, accusing them of undermining democracy through the SIR and warning that the next step could be attempts to strip people of citizenship through the NRC.
Launching her campaign for the upcoming assembly polls from the politically crucial north Bengal, a region where the BJP has built a formidable base since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC supremo alleged that constitutional institutions were being misused to "snatch away people's voting rights".
Addressing back-to-back rallies in Maynaguri and the Thakurnagar area of Jalpaiguri district, Banerjee claimed the SIR of electoral rolls was creating fear among voters.
ALSO READ: Removal From OBC List To Waqf Act: Is Mamata's Muslim Vote Bank At Risk In Bengal Polls 2026?
"The EC, BJP and the Centre are not following the Constitution. They are trying to snatch voting rights," she said. Drawing a sharp contrast with the hour of India's Independence, Banerjee alleged that the publication of the supplementary electoral rolls had triggered what she called a "midnight rampage".
"We got Independence at midnight, and we feel proud of it. But today, they have forgotten Independence. They are not following the Constitution or democracy. They are snatching away people's voting rights," she said.
(With PTI Inputs)