TMC to raise SIR issue, related deaths in Bengal in Parliament winter session
Kolkata (PTI): The TMC will raise the SIR exercise and deaths allegedly linked to it in West Bengal during the winter session of Parliament next month, a senior leader said here.
The ruling party of the state has been accusing the Election Commission of imposing "SIR-linked inhuman pressure" on ground staff through compressed timelines and "unworkable deadlines."
The party claimed the accelerated voter-roll revision has unleashed fear, fatigue and fatalities among Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and citizens, and will question why West Bengal has been subjected to the most intensive scrutiny while several border states with similar demographic profiles have been exempted from the SIR, the leader said.
The TMC said it would seek an explanation from the Centre and the EC on the selection of states for the SIR.
The senior party MP said, "Why have Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, all bordering countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar, been exempted entirely? Why is Assam under a lighter Special Revision? Is the real intent to challenge Bengali identity and systematically prune Bengali voters from the rolls?"
The winter session of Parliament will be conducted between December 1 and 19.
Senior TMC leaders said the voter-roll revision, launched in early November across 12 states and Union territories, has been carried out in West Bengal with "extraordinary haste," triggering panic among citizens and placing an "unprecedented burden" on Booth Level Officers (BLOs), several of whom have reportedly died while juggling teaching duties and late-night enumeration work.
The party claimed that 41 people, including four BLOs, have died since the start of the process.
Families of some of the deceased have attributed their deaths to crippling deadlines, inadequate training, and the stress of the massive exercise.
"What should normally take two to three years has been squeezed into two months just to please political masters at the Centre," a TMC MP alleged.
According to official data, the West Bengal SIR is nearing completion, with 7.64 crore forms circulated, 82 per cent digitised, and 99.8 per cent of voters covered in the door-to-door verification drive. The final electoral roll is expected to be published on February 7, 2026.
But TMC leaders said the numbers do not reveal the human toll of the exercise.
"BLOs are collapsing under pressure, common people are gripped by fear psychosis, and the EC is watching silently," another TMC parliamentarian said. "There are reports of suicides, anxiety-induced deaths and teachers fainting in the middle of duty. This cannot be passed off as routine enumeration."
The party also pointed to rising anger among schoolteachers, who form the majority of BLOs and have complained of impossible working hours, lack of training, and the absence of transport or other logistical support.
"How can you expect a teacher to finish schoolwork, visit dozens of households, upload data, and still meet daily targets?" a TMC leader asked. "This is administrative coercion by EC masquerading as electoral correction."
TMC sources said the party will demand compensation for families of deceased BLOs, immediate relaxation of deadlines, and a parliamentary discussion on what it calls a "selective and punitive" enumeration exercise.
"Human lives cannot be collateral damage in the pursuit of a voter-roll cleanup," a party leader said. "If the EC has nothing to hide, let them explain why Bengal alone has been subjected to this aggressive drive."
The TMC plans interventions in both Houses throughout the winter session, pressing for accountability from the Election Commission and the Union government.
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How can TN get funds if state always confronts Centre, asks AIADMK chief Palaniswami
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Thanjavur (PTI): AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami lashed out at the DMK government over fund flow to the state and remarked how it could be possible for the state to get funds when it intentionally confronted the central government.
Addressing a joint poll campaign with AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran, a constituent of the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami on Saturday said political parties could have differences or criticise each other during elections but after the polls, the elected government should serve the people who voted them to power.
"How can TN get funds if the state government intentionally criticises the BJP? The DMK could not get funds when it shared power with the Congress at the Centre. Now it criticises the BJP, after failing to maintain harmonious ties with the Centre," the former chief minister said.
The DMK government could have obtained the funds required for the people had it maintained a cordial relationship with the Centre, he said.
But during the last five years of its rule, it had only denied the people the benefits they deserved, the AIADMK general secretary alleged.
"During the then Congress-led UPA regime, a DMK minister involved in the 2 G spectrum scam was jailed and another person who is now criticising me has also been in Tihar jail. She has no qualification to criticise me," he said and reminded that the 2 G spectrum case was still pending.
"The DMK is synonymous with scams. DMK is corruption and corruption is DMK, both are inseparable," Palaniswami alleged.
He flayed the DMK's alleged double standards on protecting the rights and interests of Tamil Nadu as it took up a joint poll campaign with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who had stated that Karnataka would go ahead with the balancing reservoir project at Mekedatu.
Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project as it would affect the agriculture prospects in the state.
Dhinakaran, who addressed from atop the campaign vehicle, flanked by Palaniswami, said like "brothers", the two were garnering votes for the NDA candidates' victory.
He appealed to the people to oust the "evil DMK".
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