Election officials distribute the SIR form in Karimpur Assembly constituency in Nadia, West Bengal. | Photo credit: ANI
Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday (Nov 12, 2025) once again raised eyebrows over the ongoing special intensive review (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, with Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of issuing orders “favoring” BJ.
He was referring to the ECI notification of November 11, which allowed the appointment of Polling Station Level Agents (BLA) for a particular polling station who could be voters in another polling station in the same assembly constituency.
“Earlier, the criteria was that a BLA must be (a voter) in the same booth where they are appointed to assist the officers of that booth. Since the BJP cannot appoint BLAs in the same polling booths in about 75% of the cases, the Election Commission passed an order in their favour… They relaxed the strict condition to accommodate the BJP.
“Totally interested”
The ECI’s notification addressed to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states and Union Territories amended its earlier directive that “in case of non-availability of a BLA from the same section of the electoral roll, the BLA may be appointed by any registered voter of the same Assembly constituency”.
Mr. Banerjee claimed that the notification was “proof that the electoral body is working to mitigate the problems of the BJP and no one else”, and questioned why the ECI had deviated from its own previous guidelines. “The Election Commission is completely biased… The way the Election Commission is destroying its own institutional legacy is shameful for Indian democracy,” the Sreerampur MP said.
Impact of delineation
Citing the Voter Registration Rules, 1960, he also argued that the 2002 voter list could not be taken into account by law as West Bengal had also undergone delimitation in 2009.
“Where there has been delimitation, the electoral roll must be revised. This must be taken into account and any pre-delimitation electoral roll will not be considered. It is the law. In that case, the 2002 electoral roll cannot be taken into account. After the delimitation, a new roll was published and when it was said that there was a new electoral roll, they cannot do otherwise, Mr Banja, the authorities.
BJP’s response
Leader of Opposition West Bengal Assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari responded to Trinamool’s allegations and asked why BLAs cannot come from a different polling booth during SIR as polling agents can come from a different booth in the same constituency during elections.
“If we can consider assembly (constituency) as center in case of appointment of election agents in booths, then they must consider assembly (constituency) as center in case of appointment of BLA-2. Yesterday, the Election Commission gave approval that BLA-2 of any political party can come from another booth in the same constituency,” Mr. Adhikari said.
BLO party affiliation
A BJP delegation met the West Bengal Chief Executive on Wednesday and raised several concerns, including political affiliation of booth level officers (BLOs) conducting the SIR exercise and duplication of voters.
“We submitted pencil and hard copies of dead voter documents and 13.25 lakh double and triple entries (as reward). The CEO accepted it and directed officials to investigate our allegations in all 294 assembly constituencies,” Mr. Adhikari said.
He added that the BJP had flagged 5,700 BLOs for allegedly violating ECI rules regarding their appointment, pointing out cases of political affiliation among BLOs. The BJP has sought a response from the CEO’s office on the outcome of their complaints and the CEO has assured them of an investigation and further action, he said.
Published – 12 Nov 2025 22:32 IST
