In battleground Bengal, how TMC bets on SIR deletions, voter backlash to corner BJP
Besides raising issues of citizenship and identity, TMC builds a narrative that SIR 's “sole purpose” is to defeat Mamata, hoping that this would consolidate its support base and push up poll turnout
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have linked the SIR exercise to concerns around citizenship and dignity, even calling it “backdoor NRC” With the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls now over in West Bengal, and 27 lakh voters left out after the adjudication process, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is seeking to use the voter exclusion as one of its key planks in the upcoming state Assembly polls, hoping that it could consolidate the party’s support base and push up turnout.
“The people of Bengal are very aware. They know that this process (SIR) was initiated and implemented only to delete names (of genuine voters) from the voter list. It is not just Muslims. Matua names and Hindu names have also been deleted. Do you think if a person’s name has been deleted from the voter list — he may be a BJP supporter — his family members will vote for the BJP? The SIR will generate backlash for the BJP in Bengal,” TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty told The Indian Express.
TMC leaders said the party has already been working at the grassroots for months to shape opinion and mobilise voters around the SIR issue. “The fear that the BJP has created through the SIR among the electorate has convinced TMC supporters that its sole purpose is to defeat the TMC. We are already telling our supporters about BJP’s designs,” a senior TMC leader said.
Chakraborty added, “This will only inspire our voters to come out in larger numbers and vote.”
Booth-level push
At the core of the TMC’s strategy is sustained booth-level engagement. TMC leaders say that since the beginning of the SIR process, their Booth Level Agent (BLA) teams have been deployed across more than 80,000 booths in the state, with party workers tracking changes to electoral rolls, assisting voters with documentation, and flagging discrepancies.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have linked the SIR exercise to concerns around citizenship and dignity, even calling it “backdoor NRC”, amplifying anxieties among minorities and migrant communities.
Their messaging has been carried through local meetings, ward-level mobilisation and sustained public rhetoric, turning what is otherwise an administrative exercise into a major political issue.
Contrast in campaigns
The TMC’s approach marks a contrast with the Congress’s handling of the issue in Bihar. While Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra drew crowds ahead of last November’s Assembly polls in Bihar, Congress leaders said that their campaign did not sustain SIR as a central issue through the course of the elections, especially at the grassroots level.
“This is the basic difference between the Congress’s and TMC’s approach. We have BLA teams in every booth in Bengal. Each of these teams has 15–20 workers to scrutinise (SIR documents), mobilise (people on the issue) and to amplify whatever new developments happen. We have been working at the grassroots level, in the courts and in the media. We have been fighting everywhere,” Chakraborty said.
“The Congress has also fought against the malpractice of SIR or vote theft. But what happened in Haryana? They picked up the issue five months after the polls with Gandhi doing a press conference. His assertions were correct. But after so many months of elections, it is useless. You have to fight them before and during the elections. That is what we are doing at the booth level,” he said.
The impact of the SIR on the Bengal polls remains to be seen, but preliminary analysis suggests that it could be significant in closely fought seats. In at least 44 constituencies, the victory margin in the 2021 Assembly elections was lower than the number of deletions recorded during the adjudication phase of the SIR, indicating that even limited shifts in votes could prove consequential.
BJP stance
A BJP leader, however, said that such exercises can have mixed effects on voter behaviour. While they may trigger consolidation and higher turnout among sections that perceive themselves as a “target”, they can also create confusion among vulnerable voters, potentially discouraging participation.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal and former state unit president Rahul Sinha called the TMC assertions a “canard”. “The TMC is spreading this because it knows its game is over. They are saying the SIR has deleted Hindu names too. The names that have been deleted include a majority of bogus or dead voters. The rest are Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims. Yes, there are some Hindus who have been left out. They came from Bangladesh but could not apply for citizenship under the CAA. That too because of the fear that Mamata created. We will help them make CAA applications,” Sinha told The Indian Express.
SIR’s ripple effects
According to Chakraborty, the completion of the SIR will also now give the party the opportunity to foreground broader political themes in the run-up to the polls.
“The SIR is an issue. But the bigger issue is deprivation of Bengal. More than Rs 1.9 lakh crore dues under various schemes such as MGNREGA, Awas Yojana, PM Gram Sadak Yojana etc have not been paid to the state. And what about the two crore jobs that BJP promised? That is why, along with the SIR issue, we are calling them (the BJP) ‘Bangla virodhi zamindars (anti-Bengali feudal lords)’, who need to be kept out of Bengal,” he added.
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