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Electoral roll revision linked to BJP survey that gave it 46-49 seats in Bengal, says TMC

Mentioning Mamata’s remarks on the SIR being the “backdoor entry for NRC”, he said: “It is a sinister move. In 1935 under the Nazis, people were supposed to provide an ancestor pass, a proof of paper."

TMC MP Derek O'Brien with party leader Sagarika Ghose addresses a press conference, in New Delhi, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (PTI Photo)

Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter lists in poll-bound Bihar was a backdoor attempt to implement the NRC, the TMC Saturday said that move came in the wake up “BJP’s internal survey showing that the party will get just 46-49 seats in the state”.

“Why is this exercise being done now? We have evidence explaining why it is being done now. It is because the BJP’s latest internal survey for Bengal shows 46-49 seats for them if Assembly polls are held. In their desperation to change or attempt to change this, they are doing this,” said TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien at a press briefing in Delhi.

Mentioning Mamata’s remarks on the SIR being the “backdoor entry for NRC”, he said: “It is a sinister move. In 1935 under the Nazis, people were supposed to provide an ancestor pass, a proof of paper. Is this the new version of the Nazi ancestor pass? Where do we go from here?”

The poll panel had on Tuesday announced the special intensive revision of the electoral roll, starting from Wednesday, which will culminate with the publication of the electoral roll on September 30 before the Assembly polls due in November. The last such revision was in 2003.

The Opposition has expressed concerns about the exercise potentially disenfranchising voters. The Congress said that the ECI was admitting that “all is not well with India’s electoral roll” but called the revision “a cure worse than the disease”.

He said that INDIA bloc parties will raise this issue inside and outside Parliament.

“We will not wait for Parliament to start. We can have the coordination in the House, but we cannot wait that long,” he said.

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At the press briefing, TMC Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose said: “This is a very important issue for democracy and transparent elections. The BJP has a habit of misusing Central agencies to target the Opposition. We are seeing this again, that through the ECI, the BJP is targeting the Opposition.”

TMC Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale said that the Modi government “is taking away” people’s “right to vote, and bringing in the NRC using the Election Commission”.

“The purpose of this new exercise is to manipulate Bengal elections for the BJP and then replicate this model all over India,” said Gokhale.

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