KOLKATA: Wary of the BJP’s warnings that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bengal’s electoral rolls could lead to mass deletions of its support base and trigger its electoral defeat, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has unveiled an unprecedented and full-scale vigilance strategy to oversee the SIR. The party is vowing that “not a single genuine voter will be struck off as the Election Commission embarks on its controversial month-long revision drive.”
In public, the TMC has chosen to directly target the Election Commission and the BJP’s top leadership, aiming to turn voters’ confusion and anxiety into collective outrage. Party leaders have already gone into overdrive, blaming the poll panel and the BJP for the alleged suicides of at least three people in the past week. Such accusations underline the party’s resolve to mobilise public support.
In addition to the public posturing, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has announced a slew of proactive measures to maintain close vigil over the Election Commission and its foot soldiers, the Booth-Level Officers (BLOs). On Friday, at a marathon virtual meeting attended by about 18,000 TMC leaders and workers, Banerjee declared the SIR revision an “acid test” for his party’s resolve to protect the Constitutional rights of Bengal’s citizens.
He accused the BJP of seeking to “divide Bengal and disenfranchise minorities, Matuas, and poor voters,” warning that the voter list revision, announced on October 27, is being used to manipulate the rolls ahead of the crucial 2026 Assembly elections. Citing widespread reports of names vanishing from the electoral rolls in Natabari, Mathabhanga, Ashoknagar, and Basirhat—with entire stretches, such as Basirhat’s S. No. 859-892, blank in the online records—Banerjee alleged a coordinated “Silent Invisible Rigging” targeting Bengali voters under bureaucratic cover.
His message to functionaries was clear: “No legitimate voter from Bengal should be disenfranchised through this SIR process.” The party’s first line of defence, he insisted, would be maintaining constant, “shadow-like vigilance” over every Booth Level Officer (BLO) deployed by the Election Commission for door-to-door verification.
“Not a single BLO should be left unattended for even a minute,” Banerjee ordered, launching a plan that will see TMC booth agents accompany BLOs, monitor their activities, and jump into action at the first sign of irregularity.
The organisational backbone of TMC’s SIR vigilance will be a sprawling network of 294 constituency-based war rooms, each acting as a control centre for the revision exercise. Overseen by local MLAs or block presidents (where TMC does not hold the seat), every war room is equipped with laptops, robust internet connectivity, and 15 dedicated personnel; ten coordinators to sustain direct communication with booth agents and live computer-literate workers for real-time data entry and troubleshooting. Complementing the war rooms, Banerjee announced the setting up of area-wise help desks and assistance camps across West Bengal’s 3,500 gram panchayats and 2,500 urban wards.
Operating from November 4 to December 4, these camps will help citizens with the paperwork needed for enumeration, support documentation, and address grievances, ensuring the inclusion of every genuine voter. A further layer of supervision will come from two newly created posts: Block Electoral Roll Supervisor (BERS) and Panchayat Electoral Roll Supervisor (PERS)—responsible for coordination in rural areas. One person per ward will replicate these responsibilities within municipalities.
Perhaps the most striking element of Banerjee’s action plan is the deployment of TMC Booth Level Agents (BLAs) at every booth, mirroring the Election Commission’s BLOs. Each BLA is being instructed to act as a “shadow” to their assigned BLO, preventing any moment when the official is left unattended. Names of all 80,000 BLAs are to be submitted to the Commission before the revision begins. These agents, supported by district-level BLA-Is, will observe, document, and intervene wherever discrepancies or signs of manipulation arise.
In addition, MLAs and MPs have been instructed to monitor between 30-50 BLOs each, with any issues escalated instantly up the chain of command. Banerjee pledged to maintain personal oversight over the whole process. He instructed partymen that any serious problem be reported directly to him via WhatsApp, promising immediate action at the “highest level.”
The TMC’s mobilisation comes amid widespread fears that legitimate voters are being unjustly removed from the electoral rolls under the SIR, a charge that party leaders like Chandrima Bhattacharya and Kunal Ghosh have amplified by comparing historical hard copy lists from 2002 to recent digital versions now showing glaring omissions. The TMC is conducting its own audits, matching online and physical voter lists, with plans to place evidence before courts as part of a multipronged legal and public campaign. The party’s Booth and Territorial Electoral Review Systems (BERS and TERS) have also been activated in advance to further safeguard the revision process from political interference.
Special outreach efforts have been ordered in districts with high minority populations—such as Malda and Murshidabad focusing on protecting the rights of migrant workers—alongside targeted interventions in tea estate regions of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, and legal cells formed in East Midnapore, the home turf of the TMC’s bete noire and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Beyond technical vigilance, TMC’s campaign is rooted firmly in mass mobilisation and community engagement which, the party hopes, will seamlessly transform into its election campaign. Banerjee has recognised the anxiety among the Hindu Matua population, encouraging the party to turn such fears into organisational strength. The party camps will operate from 9 am to 5 pm, so that every doorstep is reached, every form completed, and every document checked in real time with party cadres “shadowing the commission’s teams throughout the day.”
Banerjee reiterated the TMC’s readiness for both “legal battles and street protests,” vowing that “if even one eligible voter’s name is removed, one lakh people from Bengal will hold a dharna outside the Election Commission office in New Delhi.”
With the party’s entire grassroots machinery primed for rapid intervention and mass protest, the TMC is trying to ensure that every move of the Election Commission’s BLOs is monitored. As the SIR drive begins, TMC’s strategy of war rooms, area help desks, data-driven audits, “shadow agents,” and 24/7 monitoring represents a level of organisational vigilance unprecedented in Bengal’s electoral history.
