West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Accuses BJP of Flawed Voter Revision, Says Citizens Marked as Dead

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sharply criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging the exercise is “deeply flawed” and has wrongly marked living citizens as deceased.

CM Banerjee, speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, said numerous families affected by the revision had travelled from West Bengal to voice their concerns. According to the chief minister, around 50 individuals whose relatives are still alive have been officially recorded as dead under the SIR process, an outcome she described as “unacceptable” and damaging to democracy.

She also claimed the exercise had inflicted severe distress on voters and officials, with more than 150 deaths reportedly linked to the stress and hardship caused by the revision, including among Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who play a key role in voter list verification.

CM Mamata Banerjee criticised what she called the “mechanical and flawed” nature of the roll-checking process, which, she argued, had resulted in legitimate voters being removed without adequate opportunity to defend their inclusion. She urged that eligible voters should not be compelled to attend hearings under difficult circumstances and questioned the legality and fairness of certain procedures adopted by the Election Commission. 

She also suggested political bias in the implementation of SIR, arguing that it was being carried out in states such as West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu but not in BJP-ruled states, including Assam. She said this raised questions about the exercise’s motivations ahead of key elections.

During the same visit to New Delhi, CM Banerjee and her delegation reportedly walked out of a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, accusing him of “humiliating” the West Bengal representatives and failing to address their concerns substantively.

The BJP has dismissed her allegations, with party leaders describing them as exaggerated and politically motivated. Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner rejecting claims that the revision was flawed and insisted that the SIR was necessary to correct irregularities such as bogus or duplicate entries in voter lists.

The SIR, which aims to update and verify electoral rolls nationwide, has become a flashpoint ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. The exercise has drawn praise from government supporters as a measure to improve electoral integrity, but critics contend it risks disenfranchising eligible voters if not conducted with due process.

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