SIR process likely to start in first week of November
The Statesman | 10 October 2025The officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday held an important meeting with district electoral officers (DEOs) as well as district magistrates of East Midnapore, Jhargram and Bankura, assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) and block level officers (BLOs) of the three districts in Kolaghat and to discuss work related to the SIR.
The ECI officials led by deputy election commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, who is in charge of Bengal, have reportedly given a hint targeting 2 November for kick-start of the SIR in the state.
They have asked the DEOs, AEROs and BLOs today to complete the work required for carrying out the SIR as soon as possible hardly a day after the chief minister Mamata Banerjee came down heavily on Union Home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday alleging the SIR was his game plan.
“This is all Amit Shah’s game. He behaves like he is the acting prime minister of the country. The PM knows everything. I am sorry to say so. We can only request him (Narendra Modi). Don’t trust Amit Shah so much. He will be your Mir Jafar one day,” said Miss Banerjee told reporters on Wednesday at the Calcutta airport while returning from Siliguri.
“The EC officials did not mention any possible dates for the SIR in Bengal, but hinted that the exercise would be carried out at the same time across the state, except a few places ravaged by natural disasters recently. In all likelihood, the SIR could begin after the Diwali holidays,” said a source.
An official said that the groundwork for the mapping exercise of electoral rolls in Bengal was almost completed.
“But the EC laid stress on the quick data compilation so that the poll panel gets a clear idea of how many voters whose names figured in the 2025 voters’ list would qualify automatically,” said an official requesting anonymity.
The EC also laid stress on imparting training to the BLOs so that they can upload data on the EC network directly.
Another official said the EC officials also laid stress on keeping arrangements ready to print enumeration forms at the district level.
The EC officials said that the districts would have to print about 30 per cent of the required forms within four days after the schedule of the SIR was declared.
