Minister urges enclave residents to accept SIR forms
The Statesman | 6 November 2025
Even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, a fresh controversy has erupted in north Bengal — one over alleged booth-level clashes and another over the reluctance of enclave residents to accept SIR forms.
Ironically, while the chief minister has opposed the exercise, North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha has been urging residents to collect the forms, reportedly to ensure the ruling party’s support base remains intact.
SIR has begun across the state, and the distribution of forms is underway. In the midst of this process, allegations have surfaced against the Trinamul Congress (TMC) for allegedly forcing out a booth-level agent (BLA) of the BJP. The incident was reported from a booth under Pachagarh Gram Panchayat in the Mathabhanga Assembly constituency. According to the BJP’s BLA-2, he was accompanying the booth level officer (BLO) during the distribution of SIR forms when several Trinamul workers allegedly arrived, snatched away all his papers, and drove him away from the spot. He later returned home.
However, the Trinamul Congress has denied all allegations. A local panchayat member said no such incident took place and accused the BJP of making false claims.
Meanwhile, minister Udayan Guha visited Poyatur Kuthi in Cooch Behar on Wednesday and appealed to former enclave residents to collect their SIR enumeration forms. As part of this process, the minister interacted with local residents and requested them to participate in the enumeration.
It may be recalled that on Tuesday, when the Booth Level Officer (BLO) visited the area, many local residents had refused to accept the SIR forms. Their main objection was that their names were not included in the 2002 voter list, as they became Indian citizens only after the exchange of enclaves.
They have demanded that the Election Commission of India first issue clear guidelines for former enclave residents before they accept the enumeration forms. To resolve this stalemate, minister personally intervened and persuaded the residents to collect the SIR forms — a move seen as an attempt to retain the ruling party’s foothold in the sensitive border region.