Kolkata: Assembly elections are scheduled for West Bengal next year. Politics in Bengal is at its peak regarding the Special Revision (SIR) of the voter list ahead of the elections. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a major statement, revealing that she has not yet filled out the SIR form. She stated that she does not need to prove her citizenship and that doing so is insulting. Banerjee said, “I haven’t filled out the form yet. Why should I? I have been a three-time Union Minister, a seven-time Member of Parliament, and, with your blessings, I became Chief Minister three times. Now I have to prove whether I am a citizen or not. It would be better to rub my nose in the ground than this.”
Earlier, while addressing a rally in Krishnanagar, Nadia district, she sharply accused the BJP and the central government of attempting to commit massive irregularities in the voter list in Bengal ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. She alleged that Amit Shah is directly guiding the efforts to remove 15 million names from the voters’ list. If even one eligible voter is excluded during the SIR process, she will stage an indefinite protest.
The Chief Minister cited reports that those who submitted their grandparents’ names as part of their documents would be summoned for hearings and risk having their names removed from the rolls. “Now we hear that those who submitted their grandparents’ names will be summoned, and the plan is to remove them directly from these hearings,” she said. It’s worth noting that the Election Commission has clarified that constitutional functionaries, including the Chief Minister, are categorized as “marked electors,” and are therefore not required to fill out forms like ordinary citizens. This category includes the Prime Minister, all Chief Ministers, and other constitutional office holders, and they are not legally required to submit census forms. The first phase of the SIR in Bengal ends today, Thursday, with draft rolls being announced on December 16th, and hearings and verifications will continue through December and January. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in mid-February.
