West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accompanied by Abhishek Banerjee and several families reportedly affected by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, arrived at the headquarters of the Election Commission of India in Delhi amid tight security arrangements. Police presence around the Commission’s office was significantly increased in view of the protest and the high-profile delegation.
On Tuesday, Banerjee strongly alleged that the ongoing revision of voter lists in West Bengal was being misused, resulting in the arbitrary deletion of voters’ names. She claimed that the SIR exercise was not being conducted fairly and that booth-level officers were carrying out their duties under intense pressure. According to her, the process had led to widespread confusion and fear among voters across the state.
After meeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Banerjee told reporters that numerous voters had found their names missing from the electoral rolls without valid reasons. She asserted that in several instances, names were removed merely due to minor changes or discrepancies in personal details, such as spelling variations or name updates. Launching a sharp political attack, she accused the poll body of acting in a partisan manner, remarking that the Commission was functioning like the IT cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Chief Minister was joined at the Commission by Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, party MP Kalyan Banerjee, and 12 members from families who claimed to have been directly impacted by the SIR process. A statement released by the Trinamool Congress said that a total of 15 representatives from the delegation were allowed inside the Commission for the meeting.
Among the affected families were individuals who are alive but were allegedly declared dead during the voter list revision, as well as relatives of people who reportedly died after experiencing extreme mental stress linked to the SIR exercise. To underline their protest, Mamata Banerjee and the accompanying family members wore black shawls, while Abhishek Banerjee appeared in a black sweater as a symbolic gesture of dissent.
Following the meeting, Banerjee reiterated her allegations that booth-level officers were being coerced during the revision process. She stated that such pressure on officials was unacceptable and warned that the manner in which the exercise was being carried out was eroding public confidence in the electoral system and intimidating ordinary voters.
Earlier in the day, several individuals from West Bengal who had travelled to Delhi to submit complaints related to the SIR exercise claimed that the Delhi Police had barricaded the gates of a guest house in Kailash Colony, effectively preventing them from stepping outside. According to them, intervention by Trinamool Congress MPs, including Dola Sen, Bappi Haldar and Kakulu Ghosh, later led to their relocation to another guest house in Greater Kailash-2.
The families affected by the SIR process maintained that the revision exercise had caused serious harm, with living voters being wrongly recorded as deceased and immense psychological pressure being placed on citizens. They alleged that this stress had, in some cases, contributed to loss of life, further intensifying criticism of how the electoral revision was being conducted.
