SIR rollout in Bengal today amid surcharged political climate

As West Bengal braces for the EC’s Special intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls beginning Tuesday, political temperatures are soaring to a high level, with the routine administrative exercise turning into a political battleground, one that pits the BJP’s clout and the poll body's push for “transparency” against the TMC's grassroots resistance ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

- TDG NETWORK

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

While the BJP has welcomed the SIR as a step towards ensuring greater transparency in the electoral rolls, the ruling TMC has questioned its timing and intent, alleging that the Election Commission (EC) is acting under pressure from the saffron party to manipulate the voter list ahead of the state elections.

With both parties treating the SIR as a prelude to the 2026 Assembly elections, the contest has morphed into what many in political circles describe as “the battle of two forces, the administrative and the organisational.”

The BJP, buoyed by the Election Commission's “proactive stance” and the possibility of central deployment, is pinning hopes on what it calls a “cleansing” of West Bengal’s voter list.

The TMC, meanwhile, has activated its battle-hardened booth network, determined to ensure that no “genuine voter” is struck off the rolls.