Kolkata. In West Bengal, the Election Commission had removed more than 90 lakh people from the voter list by conducting SIR. Now West Bengal BJP President Shamik Bhattacharya has demanded that SIR should be conducted once again in the state. Shamik Bhattacharya claimed that the SIR conducted before the West Bengal Assembly elections was obstructed by workers of the then ruling TMC. Senior CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty hit back at Shamik's statement and said that BJP had claimed that after the SIR, names of 1 crore Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingyas will be removed from the voter list of West Bengal. Chakraborty said that before demanding a new SIR, BJP leaders should tell how many infiltrators were caught.
West Bengal BJP State President Samik Bhattacharya's statement on the demand for SIR again
“West Bengal should have SIR again.” – Samik Bhattacharya
#westbengal
— IndianPressHouse (@IpressHouse) October 17, 2026
Again demanding SIR, Shamik Bhattacharya said that during SIR, there was TMC rule and there was large-scale violence at that time. Intimidation was done and SIR documents were burnt. Due to which the names of all the infiltrators and illegal voters could not be removed. West Bengal BJP President Shamik Bhattacharya said that during the last SIR, the party's booth representatives i.e. BLAs were beaten up and voter related documents were set on fire. In Mothabadi of Malda, the angry people even took judicial officers hostage. Agnimitra Paul, a minister in the Subhendu Adhikari government, was attacked and documents were snatched from his hand and burnt.
Shamik Bhattacharya also said that if SIR had been conducted impartially in West Bengal at that time, then the names of lakhs of illegal voters would have been deleted. Shamik Bhattacharya also praised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. West Bengal BJP President said that despite violence and obstacles, Gyanesh Kumar did not allow election violence in West Bengal and conducted fair elections. He said that the people of West Bengal see the Chief Election Commissioner as a hero. Shamik attacked TMC and Left parties by saying that the opposition leaders, who have lost their support base in Bengal, are now going to Delhi and shaking hands with cockroaches and lizards.