State-EC scrap over SIR of electoral roll intensifies
Times of India | 9 August 2025
Kolkata: The Bengal administration and Election Commission scaled up their confrontation over the special intensive revision (SIR) by several notches on Friday.
The state asked the Bengal chief electoral officer why he did not consult and intimate the administration before telling the EC that SIR could be done in Bengal. The EC "response" came in the form of a Monday deadline to suspend and lodge FIRs against four state officers and a data entry operator for the enlistment of alleged bogus voters on electoral list.
The state letter to CEO Manoj Agarwal came after the latter wrote to EC, saying Bengal was ready for SIR of voter rolls. The CEO's we-are-ready note to the EC came despite the state moving the Supreme Court raising several questions on the SIR issue. The state's missive to state CEO Agarwal said "no consultation or prior intimation was made".
The state has told the SC, hearing appeals against the SIR in Bihar, that it wants to be heard in the matter. The SC has allowed the state to file a formal application. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi may hear the matter next week. SIR was last conducted in Bengal in 2002. The state has 7.3 crore voters now.
The EC on Monday asked the state to suspend and lodge FIRs against four officers — two Election Returning Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Election Returning Officers (AEROs) — from Baruipur (East) and Moyna assembly constituencies, which was fiercely contested by CM Mamata Banerjee; she said the EC had no jurisdiction over state officers and dared the EC to suspend them.
Friday's EC note, which came in this backdrop, said the state administration was yet to submit a compliance report; it should be done by Monday, the note added. A preliminary probe indicated that bogus voters had seeped into the electoral rolls in these constituencies because of these officers' negligence.
Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose chose not to pick any side on the issue on Friday: "Both the state and the EC are mature constitutional bodies. There can be differences of opinion but they need to be reconciled.... SIR is a routine exercise.
"The CEO's letter to the EC coincided with the latter uploading Bengal's SIR 2002 data on its website for most assembly segments, barring those in North 24 Parganas and Kulpi in South 24 Parganas. North 24 Parganas, with 33 assembly constituencies, is the state's biggest district with a population of over 1 crore.
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