Bengal CM shielding ‘illegal vote-bank’ that SIR threatens to expose: BJP's Suvendu in letter to CEC

Kolkata: Ratcheting up the political temperature around the SIR, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has written to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to “undermine” the Election Commission and “shield an illicit vote-bank” her party has “nurtured for years”.

Adhikari’s letter to the CEC came hours after Banerjee’s communication to the poll panel on Thursday in which she slammed the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as “chaotic and coercive”.

The Leader of the Opposition in the assembly hit back late on Thursday with a four-page counter, calling her missive to the EC “misleading, politically motivated and factually distorted”.

He dubbed the CM’s objections as nothing less than “a desperate attempt to derail a clean-up drive that threatens her political ecosystem”.

“The Chief Minister’s letter is a calculated attempt to sow discord among election officials, discredit the ECI’s constitutional mandate and protect a vote-bank of ineligible and illegal elements her government has nurtured for years,” Adhikari asserted.

In a characteristic combative tone, he accused Banerjee of “intimidating” booth level officers and making “unacceptable insinuations” against the CEC.

“Such conduct from the head of a state government must be condemned,” Adhikari said.

He dismissed Banerjee’s portrayal of the SIR as a “chaotic and disruptive” initiative, arguing that similar revision drives have been “part of the ECI’s toolkit since the 1950s,” including the extensive exercise in 2002-03.

“The Hon’ble CM herself contested and won the 2004 Lok Sabha polls based on rolls revised in 2003. Will she now question the legitimacy of her own victory?” the BJP leader said in the letter to Kumar.

Pressing his long-standing charge of large-scale discrepancies in Bengal’s voter lists, Adhikari said the current SIR was essential to “weed out lakhs of bogus entries,” claiming multiple enrolments, dead voters and forged documents.

The LoP said he had already submitted data listing “13.25 lakh dubious names” to the CEO.

Seeking to amplify his allegation of an “infiltration ecosystem,” the BJP leader pointed to recent visuals aired by TV channels showing individuals allegedly attempting to return to Bangladesh, fearing detection during the SIR.

Many, he claimed, had “openly admitted on camera” to possessing forged Indian documents “facilitated by local TMC leaders”.

“This is the rotten underbelly of TMC’s infiltration ecosystem,” he said, reiterating a charge the ruling party has repeatedly dismissed as communal fear-mongering.

Adhikari also referred to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, claiming that CCTV cameras at several booths were “deliberately disabled” to enable “fake voting and manipulation”.

He cited the Calcutta High Court’s recent order disqualifying Mukul Roy as MLA as “further proof of a pattern of political malpractice”.

In his letter, Adhikari also accused the state’s Finance Department of withholding funds and approvals for BLOs and data entry operators.

“This is a petty tactic to manufacture chaos and shift blame onto the ECI,” he wrote.

Urging the Commission to “stand firm as the guardian of democracy”, Adhikari pressed for additional resources to ensure the SIR is conducted “flawlessly and without fear,” arguing that the people of Bengal were looking up to the EC for a “clean and credible” electoral roll ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

The Trinamool Congress did not immediately react to Adhikari’s allegations.