Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused certain political parties of attempting to “protect infiltrators” by obstructing the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in various states.
Although Shah refrained from naming any specific party, his statement came just one day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the ongoing SIR exercise in the poll-bound state as “chaotic, coercive and dangerous”. In a post on X written in Hindi, Shah declared: “Stopping infiltration in India is not only necessary for the country’s security, but it is also essential to prevent infiltration in order to protect the country’s democratic system from being polluted.”
“But unfortunately, some political parties have embarked on a journey to protect these infiltrators, and they are against the purification work being carried out by the Election Commission in the voter list,” he further stated.
On Thursday, Mamata Banerjee had sent a strongly worded three-page letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, warning that the SIR had reached a “deeply alarming stage” and alleging that the entire drive was being conducted in an “unplanned, dangerous” manner that had “crippled the system from day one”.
“The manner in which this exercise is being forced upon officials and citizens is not only unplanned and chaotic, but also dangerous,” the Chief Minister wrote, pointing out the absence of “basic preparedness, adequate planning or clear communication” that had thrown the process into complete disarray.
She accused the Election Commission of imposing the SIR on officials and citizens “without basic preparedness”, highlighting “critical gaps in training”, widespread confusion regarding mandatory documents, and the “near-impossibility” for booth-level officers (BLOs) to meet voters “in the midst of their livelihood schedules”.
Banerjee painted a grim picture of BLOs being stretched “far beyond human limits” while trying to balance their primary duties—many of them teachers and frontline workers—with door-to-door verification surveys and glitch-prone online submissions.
According to her, most BLOs were “struggling with online forms due to lack of training, server failures and repeated data mismatches”.
“At this pace, it is almost certain that by December 4, voter data across multiple constituencies cannot be uploaded with required accuracy,” she cautioned.
She warned that under “extreme pressure and fear of punitive action”, many officers were being compelled to make “incorrect or incomplete entries”, which risked disenfranchising legitimate voters and “eroding the integrity of the electoral roll”.
These systemic failures, the Chief Minister emphasised, had made the entire exercise “structurally unsound” and placed its “credibility at severe risk”.
The Trinamool Congress supremo urged CEC Kumar to “intervene decisively to halt” the current drive, end all “coercive measures”, ensure proper training and logistical support, and “thoroughly reassess” the existing methodology and timelines.
“If this path is not corrected without delay, the consequences for the system, the officials and the citizens will be irreversible,” she wrote, describing the situation as one that demanded “responsibility, humanity and decisive corrective action”.
Also Read: BLO found dead in Jalpaiguri, Mamata blames SIR stress
The Bharatiya Janata Party swiftly rejected Banerjee’s allegations and accused her of deliberately attempting to sabotage a legitimate electoral process. Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, also wrote to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, charging that Mamata Banerjee was trying to “undermine” the Election Commission and “shield an illicit vote-bank” that her party had “nurtured for years”.
Dismissing Banerjee’s depiction of the SIR as a “chaotic and disruptive” exercise, Adhikari pointed out that similar intensive revision drives have been “part of the EC’s toolkit since the 1950s”, including the comprehensive exercise conducted in 2002-03.
“The Chief Minister’s letter is a calculated attempt to sow discord among election officials, discredit the ECI’s constitutional mandate and protect a vote-bank of ineligible and illegal elements her government has nurtured for years,” Adhikari asserted.
He further accused Banerjee of “intimidating” booth-level officers and levelling “unacceptable insinuations” against the Chief Election Commissioner.
“Such conduct from the head of a state government must be condemned,” he concluded.
Also Read: Mamata writes CEC, seeks immediate halt to SIR citing BLO deaths
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