West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday led a massive protest march in Kolkata against the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to revise electoral rolls.
The chief minister was accompanied by her nephew and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee during the protest march from Red Road to Jodasanko.
Religious leaders representing all the prominent faiths, including Hinduism, Islam and Christian, were seen walking together at the forefront of the rally, sending out a message of unity.
Banerjee’s party, the TMC, has termed the Election Commission of India’s SIR exercise “Bangla-Birodhi”.
Addressing the rally, CM Banerjee accused the BJP of branding Bengali migrants as Bangaldeshis and spreading fake news against Bengal.
Stating that SIR in Bengal took two years to be completed in 2002, Mamata asked the ECI why it was in a hurry to complete it in a month this time.
The West Bengal CM also demanded that the ECI reveal how many Rohingyas and Bangladeshis were found in Bihar after the SIR exercise.
Mamata warned that “if a single eligible voter is removed from electoral rolls in Bengal, we would ensure fall of BJP govt.”
She also questioned the purpose of Aadhaar card if the document is not accepted for voter list and ration card.
“How much did you pay for Aadhaar cards? You (Centre) took Rs 1,000 from each person. If you took Rs 1,000 from the public to make Aadhaar cards, then why do you still say no Aadhaar card for the voter list, no Aadhaar card for the ration card? Who are you cheating?” she asked.
“…the best thing is to make this one change and remove the Delhi government from the country. There will be no need for Aadhaar. How many cards will you make? Ration card, health card, PAN card, Aadhaar card, caste certificate, Kisan card, labour card…,” Mamata added.
Her nephew Abhishek also attacked the Narendra Modi government, alleging that the SIR exercise is being held to “intimidate and disenfranchise ordinary voters”.
Abhishek, whobis also the National General Secretary of the TMC, said, “PM Modi, as per his whims and fancies, is dictating terms to common people- be it demonetisation or furnish documents for citizenship.”
He said that the 2026 election (WB Assembly election) “is not a fight to win and choose Mamata Banerjee as the CM for the fourth time, but the next election is about bringing the BJP to zero seats.”
The TMC rally came on the day the enumeration of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories (UTs), including West Bengal, began.
The SIR exercise was held in Bihar ahead of the state assembly elections, leading to widespread criticism from Opposition parties after more than 68 lakh voters’ names were deleted from the electoral rolls. Following the completion of SIR in Bihar, the ECI had last month announced phase two of the electoral roll revision in 12 more states and UTs.
The exercise will cover about 51 crore voters in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Of the states and UTs where SIR has got underway, four – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry – will go to polls next year.
The house-to-house enumeration process that commenced on Wednesday is scheduled to conclude by December 4. After this, the Election Commission will publish draft electoral rolls on December 9 and people will have until January 8 to submit claims and objections.
The process of verification of eligible voters will take place between December 9 and January 31. The final electoral rolls will be published on February 7.