Amid ongoing counting of votes for the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday, May 4, targeted the Election Commission and said that the speed with which the poll body carried out the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state “has raised questions about whether we can really call it violence-free.”
Chowdhury is contesting the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026 from the Baharampur seat against BJP’s Subrata Maitra and TMC’s Naru Gopal Mukherjee.
In an interview with The Statesman’s Features Editor, Dola Mitra, Chowdhury said that the Election Commission “deserves applause for the way it conducted the polls especially when you consider the relatively violence-free environment during the polling.”
“It was one of the smoothest, most successful elections in West Bengal not just in terms of the voter turnout but also as far as the absence of the kind of bloodshed that the state is used to witnessing during elections is concerned,” he said.
However, Chowdhury added that the “manner and speed with which the Election Commission conducted the SIR just before the polls, has raised questions about whether we can really call it violence-free.”
He highlighted that a large number of people were left out of the electoral rolls because they could not satisfactorily provide the necessary documents.
“But what should have been considered is that India is a country where there are poor people who often don’t have the types of documents that were mandated by the SIR. If the process intended to ensure a foolproof electoral roll, it ought to have taken into consideration the realities of our own country. We cannot compare ourselves to countries in Europe and America. Also, the onus of proving citizenship fell on the people of the country themselves, when it should have been the other way around,” he said.
On being asked about the Congress’ goals in the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Chowdhury said the party’s endeavour is to gradually regain turf.
“We were once the party at the helm in this state. We have roots here and these need to be strengthened. Congress has a lot to offer. It is a national party. We are connected to the very history of this country. Our first goal is to increase our visibility. We are very much in the fray and we do have a support base,” he said.
Chowdhury said that the SIR caused people to think that this is not merely the preparation of an electoral roll but is a proof of citizenship.
“They felt that exercising their right to suffrage was something that they should do in order to establish their citizenship,” he added.