EC boxes in Bengal with 11 roll observers after Trinamool takes SIR plaint to Delhi
Times of India | 29 November 2025
Kolkata: Amid its escalating standoff with Trinamool Congress, the Election Commission on Friday appointed Subrata Gupta, a retired Bengal-cadre IAS officer, as a Special Roll Observer in Bengal during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The officer, who retired on May 31 while on central deputation, has been asked to ensure that "no eligible person is left out from enrolment and no ineligible elector is included in the electoral roll".
In a separate order, the EC used its plenary powers under article 324(6) to appoint 10 Election Roll Observers, citing that "districts in Bengal are quite large in terms of area, number of electors, number of assembly constituencies" and have "long international borders with unique topography". All senior IAS officers of the Bengal cadre, these observers will monitor the ongoing SIR processes in all 23 Bengal districts, including Kolkata.
The back-to-back orders coincided with a 10-member delegation of Trinamool MPs meeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi's Nirvachan Sadan for two hours on Friday. Striking a belligerent note at the start of the meeting, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien handed the CEC a list of BLOs and voters (totalling 40) who died in Bengal during the SIR exercise and accused the CEC and the full bench of EC of having "blood on their hands".
The MPs said while Trinamool is not opposed to SIR as a "concept", it is questioning the "manner and intent" with which it is being done in Bengal.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Mahua Moitra and Mamata Bala Thakur lobbed five posers at the EC. They asked, if the SIR's true intent is to remove illegal immigrants from the rolls, why is Bengal the only border state under scrutiny. How has the electoral roll that was valid during 2024 LS polls suddenly become unreliable now? Does EC take responsibility for the deaths of BLOs? Why are Trinamool's concerns being ignored but BJP's complaints drawing instant action? Why is EC silent on BJP's claim that 1 crore Bengal voters will be removed from the rolls?
EC sources later said they had not only given a point-by-point rebuttal but also asked Trinamool not to intimidate officers involved in the SIR exercise. In a formal note shared with the media, the EC said it had told the Trinamool delegation "in clear terms that preparation of electoral rolls as well as conduct elections in India are held in a fully transparent manner" and "Trinamool should abide by it". It reportedly told the MPs that the enhanced honorarium approved for BLOs and EROs has not yet been disbursed by the state and should be done without further delay. The EC note said that the Trinamool delegation was told "that while political rhetoric is their prerogative, they should refrain from spreading misinformation relating to election procedures".
The EC's response lit a fuse in the evening. Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took to X to slam the EC for its "selective leaks" and "outright lies". Banerjee wrote, "The Election Commission is deliberately planting selective leaks to falsely claim that they have provided a point-by-point rebuttal to the issues raised by the TMC delegation today. These assertions are not just misleading, they are outright lies. If the EC truly has nothing to hide and actually believes in transparency, then instead of hiding behind motivated leaks, it must immediately release the full CCTV footage and every piece of evidence it claims to possess. Anything less only exposes their bad faith and raises serious questions about their intent."
The appointments of Gupta as the Special Roll Observer, and 10 other IAS officers as Election Roll Observer, were revealed late evening. On Wednesday, the EC had decided to send three senior officers to Bengal for the ongoing SIR and work under CEO Manoj Agarwal. The same day a BJP delegation had met the CEC and demanded that a special observer be appointed for the Bengal SIR process.