‘126 People Have Died So Far Due to Unplanned SIR’: TMC Leader Abhishek Banerjee Slams CEC Gyanesh Kumar and BJP’s ‘Anti-Bengali’ Agenda in West Bengal

Kolkata, January 24: Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during a video conference with party leaders. Addressing the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Banerjee alleged that the "unplanned" nature of the exercise has already claimed 126 lives across the state, primarily due to excessive work pressure and the panic surrounding the verification process.

"126 people have died so far due to the unplanned SIR. We fought a legal battle against this process because it was designed to harass the people of Bengal," Banerjee stated. He revealed that he recently led a 10-member delegation to New Delhi to meet the full bench of the ECI to seek clarifications on the massive number of notices served to voters. During the meeting, he expressed significant dissatisfaction with the conduct of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. TMC Leader Majeed Memon Accuses EC of Bias, Says Poll Panel Working in Favour of Centre.

Banerjee claimed that the CEC failed to provide transparent answers regarding the criteria used for flagging nearly 1.25 crore voters in West Bengal for "logical discrepancies." He specifically criticized the deployment of micro-observers in the state while larger procedural concerns remained unaddressed. "CEC Gyanesh was present, but he did not give proper answers to our questions. Only micro-observers are being deployed in Bengal. That is why we call the BJP anti-Bengali," he said, suggesting that the central government is attempting to replicate electoral strategies used in Delhi and Haryana to influence outcomes in Bengal.

The TMC leader framed the ongoing struggle as a unique success for West Bengal, asserting that while other states succumbed to the pressures of the SIR, his party successfully confronted the Commission. This follows recent legal developments where the Supreme Court directed the ECI to publish lists of affected voters at panchayat and block offices and allowed authorized agents to assist those summoned for hearings. Humayun Kabir Had Joined BJP That Demolished Mosque: TMC's Abhishek Banerjee.

The SIR was initiated by the ECI in late 2025 to update electoral rolls ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. However, the process has faced intense criticism from the TMC, which has branded it "Software Intensive Rigging." The party has consistently raised concerns that the exercise disproportionately targets certain demographics and creates administrative chaos, leading to the reported deaths of several Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and citizens under stress.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 24, 2026 08:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).