Hold ‘save infiltrators’ rally anywhere, SIR process will go on: BJP
The Statesman | 5 November 2025
The state BJP leadership launched a blistering attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamul Congress (TMC) for organising a massive rally in Kolkata on Tuesday to protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The rally, which saw both the TMC chairperson and the party’s national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee walking together, was described by the BJP as a desperate attempt to “protect illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who form the TMC’s vote bank.”
BJP’s national IT cell head Amit Malviya took to X, calling the event “Ghuspethiya Bachao Yatra” (save infiltrators rally). In his post, Malviya wrote: “That’s what Mamata Banerjee is leading today. Like Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, this is a desperate attempt to save her illegal vote bank. Between 2001 and now, West Bengal’s population has risen by 31 per cent, but the number of voters has shot up by 67 per cent. Where did these extra voters come from?”
He further reminded that Mamata Banerjee herself had once accused the CPI-M of manipulating voters’ lists by including names of the dead, migrated and illegal immigrants. “Ironically, she was once the face of the fight for a clean electoral roll,” he remarked.
Joining the criticism, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said the chief minister could go ahead and hold rallies anywhere — from Kalighat to Digha, even in Mumbai’s Juhu Beach or Antarctica — but the SIR process would continue as scheduled. “This protest rally has only one aim: to divert attention from the TMC’s limitless corruption, loot of public money, and the suppression of democratic rights,” Bhattacharya said.
“All of it stems from Mamata herself,” he added. Citing data to question the state’s abnormal rise in voter numbers, Bhattacharya noted, “In 2001, Bengal’s population was about 8.02 crore. By 2025, it has grown to around 10.56 crore — an increase of 2.54 crore (31.7 per cent). But the number of voters has risen from 4.58 crore in 2002 to 7.64 crore in 2025 — a 67 per cent increase. This can’t be explained logically. Even if all Hindus who left Bangladesh in the last 20 years settled in Bengal, this huge surge in voters cannot be justified.”
Bhattacharya asserted that a clean electoral roll was not a political agenda but a citizens’ right. “People want an accurate list, fair voting, and genuine democracy,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, meanwhile, led a separate protest in Sodepur-Panihati, where one Pradip Kar allegedly committed suicide fearing exclusion from the voter list. Suvendu alleged that TMC was spreading falsehoods about the SIR process. Later, at the CEO’s office, he lodged a formal complaint alleging widespread document forgery in the name of birth certificates and voter ID verification.
“The commission has sought our cooperation and asked us to wait till the form-return stage,” Adhikari said. He added that misleading claims were being made regarding the ‘Other Relative’ section in the voter enumeration form. “The ECI’s updated software will automatically reject entries outside parents or grandparents,” he clarified.