• Source:JND
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Bengal SIR News: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched a massive agitation against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. Leading a protest rally in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of intimidating voters in Bengal through SIR ahead of the 2026 state elections and said that the saffron brigade "spread fake news against Bengal and branded Bengali migrants as Bangladeshis."

Accompanied by senior TMC leaders, including her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the CM, dressed in her trademark white cotton saree and slippers, began the 3.8-km rally from the statue of BR Ambedkar on Red Road, which will culminate at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore.

Addressing her supporters, Mamata Banerjee vowed to bring down the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre "if any eligible voter was removed from the electoral rolls during SIR". She further questioned the timing and intent of the SIR in Bengal and alleged that the Election Commission is acting under pressure from the BJP to manipulate the voter list ahead of the state elections next year.

"The EC is conducting SIR in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, but not in BJP-ruled Assam. The Election Commission must also reply why there is no SIR in BJP-ruled Assam, Tripura and other northeastern states," she demanded, calling it "clear discrimination aimed at helping the ruling party at the Centre."

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The last SIR in West Bengal in 2002 took at least two years to be completed, she said, and wondered why the EC is "in a hurry" to finish it this time in just a month. "If a single eligible voter is removed from the electoral rolls, we will ensure the fall of this BJP government," Banerjee declared to thunderous applause from her supporters.

"The BJP does not want to win on the basis of votes, but on the strength of notes. If this electoral roll is fake, then how did the BJP win previous elections held on the basis of the same list?" Banerjee asked.

She further alleged that SIR stands for "silent, invisible rigging" and the BJP is using it to instil fear among voters. "Do we have to prove our citizenship before the BJP after being born and brought up in this land?" she asked.

'Mamata Banerjee Is Scared': BJP's Sukanta Majumdar

Union Minister and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar slammed Mamata Banerjee's protest against SIR in Bengal and alleged, "Mamata Banerjee knows that if SIR happens, the names of dead voters will be deleted from the electoral roll. Then her relatives, who used to cast votes for her using the names of the dead people, will not be able to do so. That is why Mamata Banerjee is opposing this.

Majumdar further said that in 2002, Mamata Banerjee supported the SIR and accused the then CPI-M government in the state of adding infiltrators into the Bengal voter list.

"In fact, SIR was conducted in West Bengal in 2002, and at that time, Mamata Banerjee was an opposition leader. She herself supported SIR. She herself used to say that 80 lakh voters in the list are those who came from Bangladesh, and their names should be deleted. She accused CPI-M of this," Majumdar added.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari led a BJP rally in Kolkata today, demanding that every Bangladeshi infiltrator be deported from the country and the SIR of the electoral rolls be fully undertaken.

Adhikari said the tragic death of an Agarpara resident last week was not related to any fear about SIR or NRC, as he had voted in 2002 and had his name in the electoral rolls of that year, and TMC is falsely linking his death with the SIR exercise to derail the process by the EC.

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"SIR had been undertaken at least eight times and was necessary for the interest of the country and saving its integrity and democracy. Why has the TMC suddenly woken up to the issue and is trying to derail the process. People have seen through their games," he said.

SIR Rollout In Bengal

The SIR of electoral rolls began across West Bengal on Tuesday, with over 80,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) visiting homes to distribute enumeration forms. The month-long house-to-house enumeration process will continue till December 4.

SIR-related help desks have been opened at the offices of District Election Officers (DEOs) across West Bengal to assist voters, while major political parties -- including the TMC, BJP, and CPI(M) -- have also set up their own voter help counters at district and local offices to "assist people with form filling and verification."

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According to the EC schedule, the draft rolls will be published on December 9. Claims and objections can be raised between December 9 and January 8, followed by hearings and verifications up to January 31. The final electoral rolls will be published on February 7, just two months before the assembly polls, which are likely in April-May next year.

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