West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to intensify her offensive against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls with rallies planned for Malda and Murshidabad this week, followed by a major mobilisation in Cooch Behar next week, according to TMC sources.
This marks the second phase of Banerjee's anti-SIR campaign, which began with her Bongaon rally last week in the refugee-dominated Matua belt. During that event, she alleged the revision drive was being misused to intimidate borderland families. The Trinamool Congress is positioning this district-wise campaign as a direct counter to the BJP's "infiltrator-cleansing" narrative.
TMC leaders confirmed the decision to hold consecutive rallies in Malda and Murshidabad on December 3 and 4, followed by Cooch Behar on December 9. These three districts — all politically sensitive and sharing borders with sizeable minority, migrant, and displaced populations — signal a deliberate attempt by the TMC to reclaim the political narrative ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, especially as the SIR exercise fuels unease over the scrutiny of identity and citizenship documents.
The Malda rally is scheduled for Gajole, and the Murshidabad rally will be held at Beharampore stadium. The Cooch Behar rally, scheduled for December 9 at the historic Rash Mela Maidan, is being projected as Banerjee's biggest mobilisation in North Bengal this winter.
District leaders anticipate a large turnout from Dinhata, Sitai, Sitalkuchi, and Mekhliganj, areas where the SIR has reportedly triggered fear among poor rural households.
Announcing preparations, district TMC president Abhijit De Bhowmik said an emergency meeting with block presidents will be held on December 1, followed by a district-level preparatory session at Rabindra Bhavan on December 2. Ministers, MPs, MLAs, councillors, and panchayat functionaries will finalise mobilisation plans for the Chief Minister's visit.
Party insiders suggest Banerjee's rallies in Malda and Murshidabad this week will serve as platforms to set the political narrative before the Cooch Behar show of strength. Local units have already begun booth-level campaigns stressing that the SIR's "errors and excesses" are disproportionately affecting border residents, minorities, and families with historically fluid cross-border linkages.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, has accused the TMC of shielding illegal migrants and opposing a legitimate clean-up of electoral rolls for political gain. With both parties trying to leverage the SIR to consolidate their narratives, Banerjee's rally in Cooch Behar is expected to escalate Bengal's charged political confrontation over identity.
Also read: 'Touch Bengal, I’ll shake nation’: Mamata to BJP over SIR row
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