Mamata’s Fear of Electoral Cleansing : Voter List Revision

Poonam Sharma
The recent outcry by Mamata Banerjee and her political supporters regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar says more about political insecurities of theirs rather than any actual threat to democracy. Central to the issue is a straightforward process: purging the voter roll by eliminating deceased, duplicate, migrated, or illegally included names. But for Mamata Banerjee, it is a personal attack on her vote bank long nurtured — one that, according to allegations, survives on illegal migrants from Bangladesh and the Rohingya mafia.

The BJP government, along with the Election Commission, has made it clear that the SIR is being done to make the election process transparent and accurate. More than 57% of voters who are eligible in Bihar have already voluntarily submitted documents for verification. It’s all simple submissions — Aadhaar, PAN card, voter ID, electricity bill, etc. And yet, even with such transparency, opposition parties, especially Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, are crying hoarse, labeling it as an NRC masquerading as something else.

Why the panic, though?

Because West Bengal has, for years, accommodated a huge number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Various reports have pointed out how these intruders have been assimilated into the electorate quietly, issued with Aadhaar, PAN, even ration cards — all through political patronage. Mamata Banerjee’s government has been accused of allowing these operations to turn illegals into loyal voters so that TMC retains control in border areas.

According to estimates, the voters in West Bengal have increased by more than 62% since 2002, a number that is starkly at odds with the birth and migration rates of the state. When the dead and the migration out are included, numbers get even more suspicious. Such a swollen list of voters is not merely an administrative issue — it is a serious threat to the fairness of elections.

Ironically, Mamata Banerjee herself had brought up the issue of illegal voters and infiltration while she was in the opposition, particularly during Left rule. She had protested in Parliament, walking out with papers in her hand, and wailing about inaction. Today, however, she is singing an entirely different song — one of denial and defiance. The only rational explanation is that she now profits from the very system she used to protest against.

Her anxieties are not unfounded. If the SIR model used in Bihar is extrapolated to West Bengal, millions of illicit voters may be eliminated, possibly inflicting a lethal blow on TMC’s hard-won vote lead. A top TMC functionary recently conceded that more than 4 million voters would be deleted if an exercise like this is conducted in Bengal. That is a humongous number — and a incriminating confession.

But is it Bengal alone? No. Other states, especially non-long-time BJP-governed ones, are just as susceptible — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and sections of Karnataka and Assam. These states have been flooded with infiltrators because of porous borders and vote-bank politics. But BJP-governed states like UP, Rajasthan, or Gujarat have comparatively more secure controls, so less susceptible to such play.

Mamata’s opposition, thus, appears to be a defensive action in an attempt to safeguard an illegal infrastructure — one that would crumble under the pressure of legal scrutiny. The invocation of NRC and CAA is intentional, designed to raise fear and communal animosity. But the SIR has nothing to do with caste or religion. It simply requests voters to establish their identity, something every citizen should be proud to do.

While that’s happening, Mamata Banerjee is already taking heat on several fronts — corruption in her ministers, education scams, and escalating lawlessness, including the ghastly rape and murder cases at medical colleges. TMC functionaries are either in jail or under investigation. The ‘appeasement-first’ strategy has lost many of its traditional voters. The next 2026 assembly elections may not be a walkover.

In that case, purging the voter roll is the big threat. Because if 10-15% of her illegal or non-resident electorate gets struck off, it might be able to change the balance of power in the decisive manner. And as opposed to Lok Sabha polls, where TMC had a decent showing, state elections are more micro and are more susceptible to such electoral adjustments.

The reality is — it has nothing to do with the fear of democracy under threat. It has to do with the revelation of non-democratic means which have been institutionalized as social justice and secularism. Mamata Banerjee is dreading losing power to manipulation, not truth. And that truth is now at the doorstep of Bengal.

Once the Bihar revision is over, the Election Commission is likely to introduce the same procedure in other states — beginning with West Bengal. It’s a golden chance to restore the integrity of voter lists. The government should not succumb to political blackmail. Bengalites, and Indians, deserve an electoral process which is free and fair, not usurped by illegal constituencies.

The real question is not whether Mamata Banerjee will resist. She will. The question is — will the Indian state stand firm and ensure that only legitimate citizens have the right to vote?

The answer to that question will define the fate of West Bengal’s democracy.