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Amid mounting controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India, alleging that the exercise has turned into a “voter-cleansing operation” aimed at serving the electoral interests of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Banerjee’s remarks came following the reported suicide of a Block Level Officer (BLO), Haradhan Mondal of Ranibandh in Bankura district, which he said has taken the number of SIR-linked deaths to over 50. Mondal, appointed by the Election Commission for the revision exercise, allegedly left behind a suicide note blaming the inhuman pressure and nature of the work assigned under the ongoing SIR process.
In a post on social media platform X, Banerjee claimed that panic, anxiety, exhaustion and fear have been deliberately engineered through what he described as a hurried, chaotic and politically motivated exercise. He alleged that a process which should have been conducted methodically has instead been “bulldozed through” by a “pliant and complicit” poll body.
“What should have been a routine administrative exercise has turned into a pressure cooker for ground-level workers,” Banerjee said, accusing the Election Commission of bending to the “political arithmetic of one party and the ego of one man.” He further alleged that for the BJP, deaths caused by fatigue or despair were being treated as “acceptable collateral cost” in a larger political strategy.
The Election Commission has not officially acknowledged any direct link between the SIR exercise and the reported deaths. However, concerns over the pace of the revision, workload on BLOs and alleged procedural lapses have been raised repeatedly by the ruling Trinamool Congress, which has accused the Centre of attempting to manipulate voter lists ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Separately, Banerjee also highlighted what he termed as “ethnic persecution” of Bengali-speaking migrant workers outside the state, linking it to a broader narrative of stigmatisation of Bengalis as “illegal immigrants.”
According to the Trinamool Congress, two residents of Dakshin Dinajpur district - Asit Sarkar and Goutam Barman were arrested earlier this year by Bhiwandi Police in Maharashtra under provisions of the Foreigners Act on allegations of illegal entry and residence in India. Their names have since appeared in the SIR draft electoral roll in West Bengal, which the party says conclusively establishes their Indian citizenship.
Banerjee met the two men after their release and alleged that despite being legitimate Indian citizens, they were harassed, humiliated and treated as suspects in their own country. The party claimed that Barman is a booth president of the BJP and belongs to the constituency represented by Sukanta Majumdar, who currently serves as a Union minister.
According to the Trinamool Congress, Barman’s wife had reached out to Majumdar seeking help at the time of the arrest but received no response. The party alleged that no protest or intervention was made by the BJP leadership despite the citizenship status of the arrested individuals. The TMC further accused the BJP of deliberately collapsing the identities of “Bengali” and “Bangladeshi” into a single stereotype, using it to stigmatise and delegitimise Bengalis, particularly migrant workers, across the country.
While the BJP has previously rejected such allegations, insisting that voter list revisions and action against illegal immigration are lawful and necessary, the opposition maintains that the ongoing developments reflect a deeper pattern of political targeting and administrative overreach.
