TMC accuses Election Commission of “heartless” SIR, flags BLO deaths in charged meeting

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A Trinamool Congress delegation held a two-hour meeting with the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi on Friday, accusing the Commission of overseeing an “unplanned and dangerous” Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

The delegation of 10 leaders, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, presented Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar with a list of 39 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who allegedly died while on SIR duty.

“We told him straight, you have blood on your hands,” O’Brien said after the meeting. He added that although the CEC spoke for nearly an hour, the party received “no clarity” on accountability and “no answers” to the five questions it had placed before the Commission.

O’Brien said the party is not opposed to the SIR itself but to what it considers a “heartless” and poorly planned execution that has heavily burdened field officials.

The confrontation came days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to the CEC seeking urgent intervention over alleged irregularities and the pressure on BLOs.

West Bengal is one of 12 states and Union Territories currently undergoing the SIR, but TMC leaders maintain the state is being subjected to disproportionate scrutiny.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who was part of the delegation, said the members were “shocked” to find that the CEC was unaware of the deaths reported among BLOs.

She also questioned why similar intensity was not being applied in other border states. “You talk endlessly about infiltrators. Then why is West Bengal the only border state facing such a rigorous SIR? When the BJP wants something, the ECI is happy to fall in line,” she said.

The party has demanded immediate corrective measures and greater accountability from the Commission as the revision exercise continues across the state.