Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has intensified her standoff with the Election Commission of India (ECI), citing “serious irregularities” in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls. In a sharp two-page letter to chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, Banerjee questioned the neutrality of recent directives, suggesting they may serve the interests of a specific political party ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

The chief minister’s letter comes amid mounting administrative tension surrounding the SIR exercise, with over 10 lakh voters reportedly identified for deletion and booth level officers (BLOs) protesting at the state chief electoral officer’s (CEO) office over what they describe as “excessive workload”.

At the centre of the latest dispute is the CEO office’s directive that contractual data-entry operators and Bangla Sahayata Kendra (BSK) employees cannot be used for SIR-related work. Instead, the CEO has floated a tender to hire 1,000 data-entry operators and 50 software developers for one year.

Banerjee questioned the need for such large-scale external recruitment when “district offices already have personnel appointed for this work.” Pointing out that local offices have traditionally hired contractual operators based on immediate needs, she asked why a centralised recruitment process was being pushed, “bypassing district authorities” who are empowered to hire as required.

“Why is this being done? What functional difference exists between those already appointed and those being proposed? Is this step being taken at the direction of a political party to serve vested interests?” she wrote.

Opposition parties in the state have earlier alleged that a political consultancy firm working closely with the ruling party has been involved in selecting data-entry personnel in several districts. At least four such appointments reportedly came under Election Commission scrutiny for misconduct earlier this year.

The chief minister said the timing of the tender, issued months before the 2026 assembly elections, raised “legitimate doubts” about motive and neutrality. She asked, “Why is such a move being contemplated at all? Again, is this being done under pressure from a political party to advance their partisan interests? Why? Why? Why?”

Responding to her allegations, State CEO Manoj Agarwal said on Monday (November 24) that the decision was taken based on Election Commission guidelines.

“This is a policy decision. The Commission had said contractual staff cannot be hired. We have done as Bihar did,” he said. Agarwal, however, distanced himself from the policy itself, adding, “I do not take any policy decisions.”

Debjit Sarkar, spokesperson of the BJP West Bengal state committee, too reacted to Banerjee’s letter. He said, “The Election Commission is performing its constitutional duties. If anyone has objections, they can approach the Supreme Court. From the DA case to the teachers’ recruitment issue, the state government has spent crores of rupees hiring lawyers to fight cases. They can do the same here.”

Meanwhile, Banerjee also raised alarm over what she claims is a Commission proposal to use privately owned buildings as polling stations. District officials have reportedly been asked to submit potential locations.

She argued that current norms requiring polling stations to be located in government or semi-government institutions within a 2 km radius of the concerned area ensure both accessibility and neutrality.

Moving booths to private residential complexes, she warned, could “compromise transparency,” risk rule violations, and create “discriminatory distinctions between privileged residents and the general public.”

“Why such a move at all? Is this too an attempt to benefit a political party?” she asked, urging the CEC to reconsider the matter “seriously, impartially, and transparently.”

Several other political leaders have also reacted to the Commission’s decision.

Speaking to The Wire, West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar said, “The Election Commission of India has lost its sanctity. In trying to demonstrate political loyalty, it is losing the trust of the people. There is considerable controversy over the Commission’s role.”

On the other hand, Sujan Chakraborty, CPI(M) central committee member, questioned the state government’s role in the controversy. “In Bihar, the government was able to assign data entry operators to assist the Commission because when the Commission asked for them, the state government provided the list. Here, when the Commission asked, the state government did not give any response. As a result, the pressure on BLOs increased further,” he said.

“The state government’s duplicity and the Commission’s indifference at that crucial time created this crisis. Now, many housing complexes have enough voters for a booth to function there. If voting takes place in a secure location, some people may feel intimidated. But what we want is for people to cast their votes safely,” he added.

West Bengal political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty, told The Wire, “My inquiry shows that the Election Commission had written to the state government long ago asking for data entry operators and software developers. But the state government never informed the Commission that it already had so many trained personnel.

Now that the Commission has initiated recruitment through agencies, the chief minister is worried. Data entry involves many delicate manipulations – if it becomes unregulated, it could be dangerous, and this is what the Trinamool fears.”

“For the last 30 years, voting has been held in booths inside many large housing complexes in Kolkata. Although in recent elections, these booths have recorded more anti-government votes. So there seems to be an attempt to return to the old practice of locking voter access by setting up booths in unsafe neighbourhoods instead,” he said.

Sources in the Election Commission revealed that preliminary data from BLOs suggest about 10 lakh voters have already been removed from West Bengal’s rolls as part of the SIR exercise. Of these, 6.5 lakh are believed to be deceased voters, while others include duplicate, relocated or untraceable voters.

BLOs have already distributed over 7.64 crore enumeration forms, with more than 4.28 crore digitised so far. The final count of deletions will be known after all forms are submitted and processed. The draft voters’ list is scheduled for publication on December 9.

BLOs protest

As the administrative burden of the SIR mounts, a section of BLOs staged a protest outside the CEO’s chamber on Monday. The demonstrators, claiming extreme workload and insufficient support, refused to disperse until Kolkata Police intervened.

The BLO Rights Protection Committee, which led the protests, alleged deaths and illnesses among BLOs were linked to pressure from the SIR exercise.

Banerjee had earlier written to the CEC demanding suspension of the SIR, arguing that BLOs had not been provided adequate training or assistance. The State CEO defended the field officials on Monday, describing them as “heroes of the SIR” and asserting that the process was being carried out at full strength.

As the SIR enters its final phase and the deletion numbers climb, scrutiny over the commission’s decisions, transparency and neutrality is likely to intensify.

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