'Shielding voter base built fraudulently for political survival': BJP on Mamata's SIR letter to EC

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was complaining against the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls and resorting to dramatics over it because her political survival depends on "shielding" a voter base created "fraudulently".

The assertion came after Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in the state was being conducted in an "unplanned and coercive" manner, putting citizens and officials at risk.

She also claimed that the SIR exercise has reached an "alarming" and a "dangerous" stage, and demanded an "immediate corrective action".

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari termed Banerjee's letter to the chief election commissioner "signs of desperation" and accused her of trying to halt the voter roll cleanup exercise to shield the "very ecosystem that kept it in power".

"Mamata Banerjee writing a letter to the Election Commission on halting the SIR exercise is nothing short of an admission that the TMC's top leadership is rattled. For years, TMC quietly benefited from illegal infiltration and bogus voters," Bhandari alleged in a post on X.

"Now that the voter list is being cleaned through SIR and fake entries are being removed, Mamata is panicking. A nervous, desperate TMC is trying to shield the very ecosystem that kept it in power," he added.

BJP co-incharge for West Bengal Amit Malviya claimed that Banerjee will continue to complain and dramatise the SIR process because she knows "the noose is tightening" and she risks being defeated in the 2026 assembly polls.

"Her political survival depends on shielding a voter base created through fraudulent and illegal means," he charged, adding, "In 2026, West Bengal will elect a chief minister for the state, not someone who behaves as though she is the provincial leader of East Pakistan."

Malviya said India shares its international land borders with seven countries, stretching a total of about 15,106.7 km. The longest of these is the boundary with Bangladesh, extending 4,096.7 km, touching West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram, he pointed out.

The BSF guards this entire stretch, yet West Bengal has witnessed the "highest levels of illegal infiltration", he claimed.

"The reason is clear: Mamata Banerjee's administration has repeatedly been accused of enabling this infiltration -- facilitating documentation, providing cover, and settling infiltrators in electorally strategic areas," the BJP leader added.

Malviya claimed the ruling TMC's mandate rests "heavily" on the seats it wins in the Kolkata Presidency region, which includes Kolkata, and parts of South and North 24 Parganas.

These are also the areas that have seen "maximum infiltration and the highest concentration of fake voters," he claimed.

"This region consistently witnesses widespread violence during elections, and the notorious Diamond Harbour is part of it," Malviya alleged.