Written by Jigisha Seal
The Educationists’ Forum on Sunday alleged a systemic manipulation of West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the SIR exercise.
The SIR exercise in the state is not a routine revision but “a special impediment removal exercise,” said Swaraj India member and political activist Yogendra Yadav during a press conference held on the theme ‘Unite & Fight Manipulation of Electoral Mandate’.
Apart from Yogendra Yadav, Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Professor Deb Narayan Bandopadhyay, Professor Parakala Prabhakar, Dr Omprakash Mishra and Professor Akhil Swami also took part in the press conference.
The panel members warned of “large-scale exclusions during the SIR exercise” and the potential “targeting of minority communities”, urging the Supreme Court to take action.
“Bihar was a trial run, the real target is West Bengal. The SIR in state is not a routine revision but a special impediment removal exercise,” said Yogendra Yadav.
“When the SIR began, the adult population was about 7.67 crore and the voter list was 7.66 crore, a 99% match. The voter list was ideal,” Yadav alleged while presenting research data.
He rejected claims of abnormal insertions, noting: “In Bengal, out of 100 applications, only 59 were accepted.”
Yadav also pointed to what he described as “extraordinary administrative measures,” including the appointment of around 8,000 micro roll observers in Bengal, compared to only a handful in other states. He questioned the speed of adjudication: “Nearly 60 lakh cases were decided within 30 days… in some instances, one officer was doing 250 adjudication cases in one day. How is that possible?”
He claimed that even documented proof did not prevent deletions. “People submitted Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, even passports, yet their names were removed over negligible errors,” he said.
Senior SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan while questioning the legal basis of the exercise referred to Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act that allows intensive revision only under specific conditions. He argued that such revisions require proper justification and sufficient time for implementation. He alleged that the current intensive revision process moves away from established rules by mandating fresh enumeration for all voters. “This has never happened before, where everyone must fill new enumeration forms or risk deletion,” he said. “Applications for deletion are not swiftly reflected online…People cannot track what is happening,” he said. He also criticised the rule behind “logical discrepancy,” calling it baseless. “There is no basis for such classifications and it could disproportionately affect the Muslim community. They’ll be treated like refugees and it is sad to see the Supreme Court allowing this exercise. The SC is seemingly acting like a unit of BJP,” Bhushan said.
“If the right to vote is taken away, it opens the door for other rights to be diluted or withdrawn. What we are witnessing is not an isolated exercise but something that could fundamentally alter the relationship between citizens and the state,” he said.
Political economist, Parakala Prabhakar, noted that the developments in Bengal have larger implications across the country. “There is an attempt to shape the collective political narrative of the country. Voters should decide who governs them, but today those in power are doing so,” he said.
Calling the situation a ‘deepening democratic crisis,’ Prabhakar said:“I would urge the judiciary to come to the rescue of people and stop the government from creating such divisions.”
Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK) president Dr Om Prakash Mishra said that concerns surrounding the SIR would be placed before the Supreme Court on Monday.
(Jigisha Seal is an intern with The Indian Express, Kolkata)