Mamata knows she may face her nemesis in 2026 as EC signals rolls revision

West Bengal is due to go to the polls in April-May 2026.

 The Election Commission of India (ECI) has released the data from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll last conducted in West Bengal in 2022.

This has put the Mamata Banerjee in a panic mode leading to deep concerns about a fresh such exercise in neighbouring poll-bound Bihar.  

The 2003 Bihar SIR data was published days before the ECI launched the fresh exercise to revise the electoral roll on June 28 as a reference point for the submission of identification documents. 

Nearly 60% of the total electorate were not required to submit any documents. They had to verify their details and submit enumeration forms.

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress slammed the SIR in Bihar, alleging it was a ploy to surreptitiously introduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC). 

On July 21, Banerjee vowed she would not allow SIR in Bengal. 

She asked Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to ensure that names of voters are not struck off from the electoral roll and people are not harassed. 

“The ECI takes over only after the poll dates are announced. Until then, and even after that, the administration lies with the state government. You are employees of the state government. Do not harass any individual needlessly,” she said at an administrative meeting in Birbhum.  

The West Bengal data was published on Monday, July 28th, under the head of “Electoral Roll of SIR, 2002” on the website of the state’s chief electoral officer. 

It covers 11 of the state’s 23 districts— Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, 

Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, 

Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly, Midnapore, and Bankura, 

-- covering 103 of 294 assembly constituencies. The data on remaining assembly constituencies will be updated soon.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari alleged that there has been a sudden spike in applications to enrol voters in districts bordering Bangladesh. 

He added that this coincided with a directive from the state administration to district-level officers to issue domicile certificates. Adhikari said he has written to the ECI to ensure that no domicile certificates issued on or after July 25, 2025, are accepted or considered during the SIR if such activity is conducted in West Bengal.  

TMC lawmaker Mahua Moitra is among those who have challenged Bihar SIR in the Supreme Court. Moitra’s petition said the ECI has decided to undertake a similar exercise in West Bengal and sought an order to restrain it.   

“The ECI’s decision to conduct a second revision in such a draconian manner in a poll-bound state is unjustified and unreasonable,” Ms Moitra said. The poll panel has said the release of SIR 2002 partly for West Bengal is a routine matter and "ongoing process".

The electoral data of the remaining districts in West Bengal will be also released soon. 

In West Bengal's politics over the next few months the issues of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi influx will dominate the proceedings and political atmosphere.

Mamata Banerjee has claimed that Bengalis in BJP-ruled states are being embarrassed in the name of eviction drive against Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

The West Bengal unit of BJP has said:

"We thank Bengalis living in other states and abroad, because without their help, it would never have been possible for the local administration (in these states) to apprehend Bangladeshis and Rohingyas".