The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday revised the schedule for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
In an official notification, ECI has extended the deadline for enumeration to December 11 from the original date of December 4.
Which 12 states/UTs are undergoing SIR exercise?
The SIR exercise is currently underway in the states and UTs of Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Why is SIR becoming a political flashpoint in Bengal?
The TMC has repeatedly raised concerns about the SIR process, alleging bias, administrative pressure and lapses in voter roll management. At Friday’s meeting, the party called the Commission’s answers “absolute lies”, widening the rift between the two parties.
Last week, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee publicly expressed “serious concerns” about the SIR and urged the ECI to intervene. With allegations of BLO deaths and excessive workload circulating, the Commission agreed to meet the TMC delegation, but Friday’s exchange seemed to exacerbate tensions rather than resolve them.
The TMC claimed that 41 people, including BLOs, had died since the start of the SIR process, some allegedly by suicide, which the BJP dismissed as “baseless and politically motivated”.
The return of Bangladeshis from West Bengal sharpens the story of infiltration
The steady flow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh returning to their country across the international border at Hakimpur in West Bengal has turned into a political flashpoint, sharpening BJP-TMC enmity over infiltration, voter lists and a high-stakes SIR exercise months before the 2026 parliamentary polls.
The reverse movement, numerically small but visually powerful, was quickly outgunned by both sides.
On the Indo-Bangladesh border at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district, locals and security personnel have reported an increase in undocumented Bangladeshis trying to return home since early November, after the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls began in West Bengal.
BSF officials said after verifying their data, around 150 to 200 people are returning every day, while around 1,700 have crossed over till November 20.
In the charged electoral climate of West Bengal, where narrative often trumps facts, the Hakimpur reverse migration may affect the 2026 election discourse as profoundly as SIR itself.
