TMC questions ECI move to take 2002 as base year for roll revision
The Statesman | 13 November 2025
The Trinamul Congress (TMC) has sharply reacted to the new Election Commission of India (ECI) rule on booth level agent (BLA appointments). Trinamul MP Kalyan Banerjee held a Press conference at Trinamul Bhavan highlighting how the ECI move helps the BJP.
The TMC MP said: “Since the BJP is unable to provide agents from the specific booths in most cases, the ECI has issued a new order favouring the BJP. Now, a BLA can be appointed not only from the booth where the revision is taking place but also from any neighbouring booth within the same Assembly constituency. This earlier stringent rule has been changed just to please the BJP. And within 2-3 minutes of this new order being passed, Suvendu Adhikari posted it on his X handle, welcoming the order. That clearly proves how this was pre-decided. The status of the ECI has fallen so low that it now acts on what Suvendu Adhikari says. The ECI is totally biased.”
On the party case against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the Supreme Court, Kalyan Banerjee said: “Yesterday, there was a hearing on the SIR in which our MPs Dola Sen and Derek O’Brien had filed petitions. The Supreme Court has notified that it will hear the matter in two weeks. This continuous favouring of the BJP is dangerous. The dignity of the EC is being destroyed in this manner, which is a shame for India.”
Making a case for the ECI setting 2002 as the base year for electoral roll revision, the MP said, the year instead should be 2009. “Another point that we have decided to raise in the Supreme Court is regarding the base year of the electoral roll used for the SIR. The process is based on the 2002 roll, but West Bengal underwent delimitation in 2009, and a new voter roll was introduced. As per Rule 24 of the electoral roll, every constituency’s roll shall be revised either intensively, summarily, or partly both under Section 21(2). Where delimitation has taken place, the rule clearly states that after delimitation, the roll must be revised, and no earlier rolls should be considered. So, in that case, even the 2002 roll cannot be used as a base. The ongoing SIR is therefore being conducted on a baseless roll,” said the MP.
Mr Banerjee also questioned why a voter will have to again prove himself and fill the form afresh. “Suppose I am a voter in 2024-2025, but I have been a voter since 1977-78. Now, if I don’t fill up the new enumeration form, will my name be removed from the voter list? Then I’ll have to become a voter all over again? But if my name already exists in the voter list, I have the right to vote. Taking away that right is unconstitutional,” he said.
He asked what was the hurry in SIR? He said when the party was already working according to the guidelines with which the process started, why were the rules suddenly changed? Was it just to please the BJP and Suvendu Adhikari? We have BLAs because we have grassroots-level support. Even when we were in Opposition, we had workers. But now, the Opposition party doesn’t have any face or any grassroots workers! Said MR Banerjee.