BJP MLA warns assembly polls in Bengal won’t be allowed without SIR, stirs row

Malda (WB), Sep 3 (PTI) A political row erupted on Wednesday after BJP MLA from West Bengal’s Malda, Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury, asserted that the assembly elections due next year would not be allowed in the state, unless the Election Commission conducts the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Speaking at a press conference here, Chowdhury, an MLA from Englishbazar, said, “If SIR is not conducted, we will not allow the assembly elections in the state. We are even prepared to stage a sit-in at the Election Commission’s office. We don’t know how the commission will conduct it here... through the police or by deploying the army.” Her comments drew a sharp response from the ruling Trinamool Congress. Malda district TMC president Abdur Rahim Boxi accused the BJP legislator of remaining “absent” from her constituency.

“The people of Englishbazar had high expectations when they elected you, but you are rarely seen in the area. Even posters calling you a ‘missing MLA’ were spotted recently,” Boxi said.

He also questioned why the BJP was raising a hue and cry about SIR in West Bengal when no such exercise had been carried out in states like Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already declared that her party will “in no way” accept SIR in West Bengal.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, too, has reiterated that the exercise is nothing but an attempt by the BJP to “delete genuine voters from the rolls in the state under the guise of scrutiny”.

While the BJP insists that SIR is necessary to ensure free and fair polls, the TMC has maintained it is part of a larger conspiracy to manipulate the voter list ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. PTI PNT RBT