West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (March 2, 2026) launched a blistering attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) over deletions in the post-SIR rolls, alleging a "nexus" between the poll panel and the BJP to disenfranchise genuine voters, and help the saffron party in the upcoming assembly elections.
Ms. Banerjee, in her first reaction after the publication of West Bengal's post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on February 28, claimed that the deletions had been carried out "deliberately by the BJP and the EC" to tilt the electoral balance in its favour in the polls.
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"The Election Commission has deliberately deleted genuine voters. I am shocked. This is a very sad and inhumane state of affairs," she said.
The post-SIR rolls recorded 63.66 lakh deletions, 8.3% of the electorate, reducing the voter base to a little over 7.04 crore.
