New Delhi, Jan 5 (.) West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday escalated his attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise has rattled the ruling Trinamool Congress because it threatens to expose “fake voters” and other irregularities ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
In a post on X, the BJP leader said he had written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, countering Banerjee’s criticism of the SIR exercise and her appeal to halt it. “I have sent a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner… dismantling Mamata Banerjee’s desperate lies against the SIR exercise and her latest plea for halting SIR,” Adhikari wrote.
Calling the chief minister’s objections “pure fiction,” Adhikari alleged that the voter roll revision was uncovering malpractice allegedly protected by the TMC. “In reality this ECI drive is throwing the spotlight on the TMC’s dirty secrets: fake voters, ghosts of the deceased, and illegal infiltrators they’ve protected for years to rig the elections,” he claimed. He further asserted that Banerjee’s opposition stemmed from political anxiety, saying, “It’s crystal clear that Mamata Banerjee is panicking because SIR is a death knell for her 2026 dreams.”
The remarks come amid an intensifying political slugfest in the state over the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision, a process undertaken periodically to verify and update electoral rolls by removing duplicate, deceased or ineligible names and adding eligible voters. While the ECI maintains that the exercise is routine and aimed at ensuring free and fair elections, the TMC has accused the poll body of acting under political pressure and has raised concerns about potential voter disenfranchisement.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly questioned the timing and intent of the SIR, alleging that it could be misused to target specific communities. The TMC has sought safeguards and greater transparency, even as it urged the Commission to pause the exercise.
The BJP, however, has backed the ECI’s move, arguing that a clean voter list is essential for electoral integrity. Adhikari’s letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, the contents of which he referenced in his post, is the latest in a series of representations by opposition leaders urging the poll body to continue the revision without political interference.
With the 2026 Assembly elections due in a few months, the battle over voter rolls has emerged as an early flashpoint, underscoring the deepening mistrust between the state’s ruling party and the opposition over the conduct of elections in West Bengal.
. SKA .