West Bengal's Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday (January 5, 2026) 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.
Mr. 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.
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He alleged Ms. Banerjee's "litany of grievances" is not only factually inaccurate but a deliberate distortion designed to malign the Election Commission of India (ECI) 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.
