TMC to set up 294 war rooms, 6,200 helpdesks across Bengal: Abhishek
The Statesman | 1 November 2025
With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls now underway across West Bengal, the ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) has launched a massive organisational exercise to ensure that no legitimate voter’s name is left out during the revision process.
Addressing party leaders and workers in a virtual meeting on Friday, TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee announced a series of measures aimed at assisting citizens and closely monitoring the SIR activities across the state.
The TMC national general secretary is supposed to have suggested taking his fight to New Delhi.
According to sources, Abhishek Banerjee has directed the formation of 294 war rooms across West Bengal during the virtual meeting. Each war room will be supervised by the local MLA, while in constituencies without an MLA, the block president will take charge. Banerjee has reportedly stressed that every war room must be equipped with adequate laptops and internet connectivity, and staffed with at least four to five technically skilled individuals familiar with computer operations.
The most significant among these is the setting up of 6,200 voter assistance help desks between 4 November and 4 December, coinciding with the period when Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit homes for voter verification and form distribution. According to party sources, these helpdesks — to function from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily — will operate in villages, panchayat areas, and urban localities across the state. Each centre will be equipped with laptops and internet connectivity to help residents fill up SIR-related forms and resolve any technical or procedural issues that may arise. The helpdesks will also record grievances through the ‘Didir Doot’ mobile application, while daily reports will be compiled and sent to Banerjee’s Camac Street office for review at the end of each day.
Abhishek is supposed to have said that the party will be with the people of Bongaon and Ranaghat. “Just like in Assam, where we saw lakhs of Hindus being left out, in Bengal, due to SIR, lot of people will face difficulties. The TMC workers must stand firm with them and provide all help,” Abhishek is supposed to have said.
He also suggested forming a separate legal cell for East Midnapore so that the BJP cannot misuses agencies like NIA to threaten people.
In his address, Banerjee emphasised that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) must act as the “shadow companions” of BLOs throughout the SIR process. He instructed them to maintain constant coordination with the officials and not allow BLOs to work unsupervised even “for a single minute.” Sources said the directive stems from TMC’s apprehension that the opposition BJP might attempt to exert pressure on BLOs to manipulate the voter list for political gain.
“BJP’s agenda is not to include genuine voters or exclude fake ones,” Banerjee reportedly told the gathering. “Their goal is to serve their own political interests. That is why we must ensure that the names of all valid voters remain intact.”
The virtual meeting, attended by nearly 15,000 party functionaries — including MPs, MLAs, block presidents, and panchayat chiefs — served as a preparatory session to familiarise them with the SIR process. The revision drive officially began on October 28, with BLO training sessions currently underway. West Bengal has around 90,000 polling booths, and TMC plans to deploy BLA-1 and BLA-2 teams at each booth to assist the BLOs and monitor the process.
Mr Banerjee also announced that he would personally visit districts during the SIR period to oversee implementation and address complaints from the public. For direct communication with his office, the party has released a dedicated helpline number — 81426 81426 — for voters facing SIR-related issues. Political observers say the initiative underscores TMC’s determination to safeguard its voter base and counter any potential irregularities ahead of next year’s Assembly election.