'Won't allow SIR in West Bengal': Mamata Banerjee sets tone for 2026 polls at Martyrs' Day rally, draws fire from BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed a packed rally at Dharmatala in Kolkata, West Bengal. (Image credit: X/@@AITCofficial)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday virtually drew the battlelines with the Opposition BJP, declaring that she won't allow a Bihar-like Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state.

A nationwide SIR of electoral rolls beginning with poll-bound Bihar was set in motion by the Election Commission of India in June this year. Many see the move, which has drawn intense backlash from the Opposition parties over its intent, as aimed at addressing the issue of illegal immigration of Bangladeshis in West Bengal.

Addressing a packed rally in Kolkata on the occasion of Martyrs' Day, Mamata claimed that the BJP was planning a Bihar-like exercise in West Bengal in order to influence voters or manipulate outcomes and declared that she would not allow such an exercise to be carried out in her state.

While Mamata has been critical of the Bihar SIR ever since it was announced by the EC, claiming that it was a deliberate move to disenfranchise voters, the fact that she has chosen to underline it at the Martyrs' Day rally attaches greater significance to it.

Over the years, Mamata has used the July 21 rally as the TMC's launchpad for its annual political agenda. The rally is held to commemorate the police firing on Youth Congress workers on July 21, 1993, in which 13 people were killed. Banerjee, who then led the Youth Congress, had organised the march to protest against alleged vote rigging by the then Left Front government and demanded that photo voter IDs be made mandatory to ensure fair voting.

With less than a year to go for polls, Mamata has set the tone for the TMC's campaign which will bank heavily on the issue of "Bengali asmita (pride)", the detention of Bengali-speaking migrants in various states and the SIR.

On Friday, Prime Minister pre-empted the TMC's strategy during his visit to Durgapur and claimed that the ruling Trinamool Congress was "actively helping infiltrators" for political gains.

After Mamata's speech on Monday, the BJP picked up from Modi's line of attack and wondered why Mamata was scared of the SIR, an exercise that the EC claims is aimed at weeding out illegal foreign voters.

"West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is now openly threatening to gherao the Election Commission if it dares to implement the Special Intensive Revision of voter roll in the state. What is she so afraid of?" BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

He further repeated the BJP's claim that duplicate voters alone number around 17 lakh in West Bengal, thrice the number identified in Bihar. "In Bihar, over 35 lakh fake votes, including names of the dead, shifted, and duplicates, were removed in the recent SIR update. In Bengal, the BJP has pointed out, duplicate voters alone number around 17 lakh, nearly three times more than Bihar!"

The BJP leader further claimed that the TMC is aware that the proper implementation of the SIR and the free and fair conduct of polls would mean "game over for them".

"As usual, Mamata Banerjee is resorting to lies and fearmongering — talking about “detention camps” and imaginary conspiracies. But the truth is this: She knows her reign of terror is nearing its end. And it is the curse of Bengal’s people, especially its women, that will bring her down," he added.