Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday, unleashed a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls - now commissioned in Bengal and 9 other states. Accusing the poll body of political vendetta against West Bengal, Banerjee warned of widespread protests, including a massive gherao of the ECI headquarters in Delhi, if even a single legitimate voter is removed from the rolls. The remarks come amid heightened tensions in the state, where the SIR process has now commenced, after ECI launched the Phase 2 of SIR on Monday, for 9 states and 2 Union Territories. This has sparked fears of disenfranchisement among several people in Bengal, claimed Banerjee.
Brandishing a large map of India during his press conference in Kolkata, Banerjee zeroed in on West Bengal's eastern borders, underscoring the shared vulnerabilities with neighbouring states like Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya. "If illegal immigration from Bangladesh is truly the ECI's concern, why is the SIR exercise limited to Bengal and 11 other states, excluding Assam - which is also heading into polls in 2026?" he questioned, pointing to the map to highlight the selective targeting. "India shares its border with Bangladesh through Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya. But the ECI is doing SIR only in Bengal and not in the other 3 states. Their sole objective is to harass Bengal and Bengalis. They call Bengalis Bangladeshis. Their numbers have come down, and thus they are desperate." Challenging the ECI, he also warned that in case a single legitimate voter is disenfranchised then he will lead one lakh people to New Delhi to gherao the office of ECI in protest. “You can not mistake Bengal with Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat, the power of Bengal is in its fight for what is right”, he added.
Banerjee's outburst was not just a critique of the SIR's scope but a broader indictment of what he described as a "conspiracy" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government to manipulate the electoral process in TMC strongholds. The SIR involves door-to-door verification of voters to identify and remove "bogus" entries, ostensibly to ensure the integrity of the voter lists. TMC, argue that the rushed timeline - slated for completion in just three months, by February 7 - mirrors the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam and could disproportionately affect marginalised groups along with others. “This is an attempt for backdoor NRC to throw out people from the country. Previously the voters would decide who would form the government in the country. Now the Central Government is deciding who will be the voters in the country for their own convenience”, Banerjee claimed.
Escalating his rhetoric, Banerjee issued a direct challenge to the BJP, dismissing their claims that the TMC is "scared" of losing its vote bank. "BJP is saying we are scared. They are saying we will lose our vote bank. I challenge them - even after SIR, BJP will be cut down below 50 seats here. And we will increase our seats even if it is by one seat. I challenge BJP: even after SIR, if TMC wins, then you will release the ₹2 lakh crore pending funds that the Centre has been holding back," he declared, referring to the central government's alleged withholding of development funds for West Bengal.
The TMC leader also referenced to a tragic incident earlier in the day: the suicide of a man in Khardaha, North 24 Paraganas, whose note explicitly cited fears over the NRC-like SIR process. "Today, a man has committed suicide. In the suicide note, he has categorically mentioned NRC. People are scared. And ECI is solely responsible for this," Banerjee said. He contrasted the current haste with the 2002 SIR exercise, which spanned two years, accusing the poll panel of "spreading fears and panic" in a bid to rush the process. "FIR should be registered against them - Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. They are responsible for this death. During the farmers' protest, around 700 farmers had died. Amit Shah and ECI have blood on their hands."
The ECI has defended the SIR as a routine housekeeping measure to enhance electoral transparency, insisting that it follows due process with opportunities for claims and objections. However, Banerjee's address has reignited debates on federalism and the politicisation of electoral institutions, especially in poll-bound states. With Assam's Assembly elections also looming in early 2026, his pointed query on the exclusion of that state from the SIR ambit has fuelled speculation of selective enforcement.
