BJP accuses Mamata Banerjee of misleading public over SIR form submission

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday charged West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with misleading the public, stating that although she claimed she would not file her enumeration form for the special intensive revision (SIR) as a mark of protest, she ultimately submitted it on the final day.

“West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again shown her instinct to mislead. She submitted her duly filled and signed Enumeration Form on the very last day, yet just hours earlier from a rally in Krishnanagar, she falsely claimed she would not submit it at all,” BJP’s information technology cell chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, wrote on his X handle.

Malviya further stated that after months of misinformation and attempts to confuse the voters of West Bengal about the revision exercise, the chief minister finally submitted her own SIR enumeration form on December 11, the last day of the enumeration phase, to remain a valid voter.

“Meanwhile, the people of Bengal paid little heed to her theatrics; nearly 100% voters completed and submitted their forms. Because of this overwhelming participation, @ECISVEEP didn’t need to extend the process in the state,” Malviya claimed.

While the ECI on Thursday extended the enumeration deadline for five states and one Union Territory, the cutoff for West Bengal remained unchanged at midnight the same day.

Malviya, in his post, further said: “The entire episode proves one thing clearly: Bengal’s voters no longer trust the lies peddled by Mamata Banerjee. The expiry date of TMC government is approaching fast.”

This came after Banerjee continued to sharped her attack on the BJP during her Krishnanagar address. She alleged that union home minister Amit Shah was directly guiding attempts to remove "1.5 crore names" from the voters' list, and accused the Centre and Election Commission (EC) of using the SIR of electoral rolls to unlawfully delete names of lakhs of eligible Bengali voters ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.

Banerjee alleged that the SIR exercise was being "weaponised" barely two months before the polls, selectively conducted in Opposition-held areas and supervised by officials "aligned with the BJP" and sent from Delhi.

"From Delhi, BJP is sending people to pressurise the DMs with the intent of removing 1.5 crore names from the electoral list. If any name is deliberately removed, I will do a sit-in protest. I urge you to do the same. If any eligible person's name is struck off, I will sit on a dharna till it's restored," she said.

The CM reiterated that she had not filled her own SIR enumeration form, asserting that she would do so only after every citizen's form was accepted.

"A BLO came to my home-office. But I have not taken any form myself. I have not submitted my form yet. I am a 3-time Central minister, 7-time MP, and 3-time CM. Do I have to prove my citizenship now to a party of rioters?" she remarked.