Kolkata: Following the conclusion of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the state’s political landscape has once again become embroiled in controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president and MP Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday strongly demanded that the SIR process be conducted afresh in West Bengal.
He argued that the revision carried out before the elections was incomplete and that a fresh exercise was essential to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the electoral rolls.
Addressing the inaugural meeting of a contract workers’ trade union at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, Bhattacharya reiterated the BJP’s demand for a fresh SIR exercise in the state.
He levelled serious allegations, claiming that officials and workers, ranging from Block Development Officers (BDOs) to Anganwadi workers, had faced intimidation and administrative pressure during the previous revision process. He further alleged that BJP workers had also been targeted.
According to Bhattacharya, had such administrative pressure not been exerted, a significantly larger number of bogus entries could have been removed from the electoral rolls.
He claimed that approximately 91 lakh names had already been deleted from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the SIR exercise. He also cited the alleged discovery of more than 20 lakh fake Swasthya Sathi cards as further justification for conducting a comprehensive revision of the voter lists.
Reacting sharply to opposition parties’ demands for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Bhattacharya strongly defended the Election Commission and criticised the opposition’s stance.
He claimed that the people of West Bengal were satisfied with Kumar’s performance and asserted that, for the first time in nearly 70 years, elections in the state had been conducted peacefully and without violence.
Praising what he described as the Chief Election Commissioner’s impartiality and commendable performance, Bhattacharya went a step further and demanded that Kumar be honoured with the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards.
Bhattacharya also launched a scathing political attack on the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), questioning their political relevance and leadership.
Describing Congress as a “parasitic political party,” he said that an organisation once associated with towering national figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had now become dependent on regional parties for its political survival.
He alleged that Congress, which once dominated India’s political landscape, had lost its independent political strength and was increasingly relying on alliances with regional parties to remain relevant.
Turning his attention to the Trinamool Congress, Bhattacharya claimed that the party had weakened considerably as a political force and had become fragmented by internal disagreements.
He alleged that political divisions had effectively split the party into three factions, which he referred to as the Mamata Trinamool Congress, the Democratic Trinamool Congress and the NCP.
Continuing his criticism of the opposition, Bhattacharya also took an indirect swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his participation in fishing activities alongside fishermen in Bihar.
Without explicitly naming Gandhi, he suggested that such public appearances were politically motivated attempts to connect with ordinary voters. He further claimed that the public had rejected these tactics and was no longer impressed by what he characterised as symbolic political gestures.
Bhattacharya’s remarks have added a fresh dimension to the political debate in West Bengal, particularly over the credibility of electoral rolls, the functioning of the Election Commission and the continuing confrontation between the BJP and opposition parties.
