Bengal Opposition Claims BJP’s ‘Infiltrators’ Stance Deflated After SIR Draft List Comes Out
Congress and CPI (M) leaders of West Bengal claim that the draft rolls prepared by the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision have weakened the BJP’s claim of massive infiltration
Opposition Defies BJP’s Political Discourse
The leaders of the Congress Party, along with the CPI(M) in the state of West Bengal, have reacted strongly against the BJP, saying that their assertions about the large number of “infiltrators” are refuted by the data available from the Election Commission of India in their Special Intensive Revision (SIR) draft electoral rolls. According to the Congress, the draft statistics do not depict the large number of illegal voters but instead represent the normal process of correcting the electoral roles.
The SIR operation, conducted as part of preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections, led to the removal of several lakh names from the list of voters. Nevertheless, the leaders of the opposition parties brought out that the deletions were largely due to normal reasons such as deaths, migration, or duplication of names. Moreover, they clarified that the number of fraudulent or non-existent voters, which was identified, was smaller compared to the claim of the BJP leaders.
Congress and the Left parties also warned that the constant projection of infiltration without credible facts could lead to fear and polarization in the community. Congress also stated that these projections could deduct people’s confidence in the democratic institutions and that people could lose focus on matters such as jobs and governance. The opposition party asserted that the draft list is not final and that people still have time to raise objections before the final list is published.
The BJP, in this regard, has justified its stand in terms of saying that removing errors in voter lists is an important process which needs to take place so as to ensure that there is freedom and fairness in conducting an election. Politicians in this regard have made claims that while the final voter list has clarity, one needs to be alert in terms of avoiding irregularities in this regard. This is also because the state is approaching its election in 2026.
