KOLKATA: West Bengal's Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging him to continue the SIR of electoral rolls "undaunted", two days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sent a letter stating that the exercise should be halted.
Adhikari claimed that the CM's call to "halt" the special intensive revision (SIR) is nothing short of an "admission of defeat", and a "brazen attempt to perpetuate the electoral malfeasance" that has defined her tenure.
He alleged Banerjee's "litany of grievances" is not only factually inaccurate but a deliberate distortion designed to malign the EC as "politically motivated" and to manufacture a false narrative of widespread discomfort and disenfranchisement.
"By contrast, the people of West Bengal have embraced the SIR as a beacon of hope. Her narrative of 'anxiety and harassment' is a TMC-orchestrated mirage, drowned out by the chorus of approval from those who reject her politics of patronage and prefer the purity of the ballot," he claimed in the letter that he shared on X.
Dismissing allegations of undue haste and inadequate preparation, Adhikari said more than 50,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in the state had undergone training for the revision exercise.
He defended the use of digital platforms such as WhatsApp for urgent clarifications, calling them supplementary to formal circulars and consistent with modern administrative practices.
The BJP leader, in turn, accused the state administration and TMC members of attempting to derail the SIR by intimidating field officials and spreading misinformation.
He said the exclusion of Booth-Level Agents (BLAs) from certain hearings was necessary to ensure neutrality and prevent "cadre-led disruptions" during the process.
"I implore the ECI to press forward with the SIR undaunted, fortified by the unwavering support of the democratic masses. This exercise is not an assault on the Constitution but its truest vindication, purging the shadows that have eclipsed our polls for too long," he said.
In a strongly worded letter dated January 3, Banerjee urged Kumar to halt the "arbitrary and flawed" SIR in the state, warning that its continuation in the present form could trigger "mass disenfranchisement" and "strike at the foundations of democracy".
Banerjee accused the EC of presiding over an "unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc" process marked by "serious irregularities, procedural violations, and administrative lapses".