Why Voter List Revision In Bihar Has Put West Bengal, BJP In Focus - Explained

The Opposition parties have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's move to update and revise the voter list in Bihar only months ahead of the polls. While the opposition parties are smelling a conspiracy behind the move, the Election Commission has now asked Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states to prepare for Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Reports indicate that poll officials have discovered Bangladeshi, Nepali, and Myanmar nationals in Bihar during the poll revision. Amid the ongoing tussle and SIR exercise, there has been a concern among the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal as well.

While the Election officials say an investigation is underway in the incidents of the finding of foreign nationals in Bihar, the Trinamool Congress has alleged that the SIR move is aimed at disenfranchising lakhs of voters that will ultimately benefit the BJP, the saffron party leaders have claimed that intensive revision, as mandated under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, is necessary for weeding out illegal migrants.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders have voiced concerns that the Election Commission's (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is covertly targeting West Bengal. An Indian Express report notes that leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) see this exercise as potentially pivotal for their party's success.

West Bengal's Chief Minister and TMC chairperson, Mamata Banerjee, has accused the EC of acting as a 'stooge of the BJP' by rushing the SIR in Bihar. She has questioned whether this is a clandestine way to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC). 

For the BJP, West Bengal is a critical state in its quest for national political dominance. Party leaders acknowledge this, also highlighting the state's symbolic importance as the birthplace of the Jana Sangh founder, Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

The BJP has long alleged widespread illegal immigration in West Bengal, claiming that the ruling TMC has allowed it to secure more votes. BJP leaders reportedly believe that choosing Bihar as the first state for the SIR was a strategic move, allowing them to work out any issues before a more 'compact' exercise in West Bengal. Since Bihar is an NDA-ruled state, the EC and the Central government can maintain that their motives are entirely 'transparent'.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra described the exercise as a tactic to disenfranchise millions of voters. She told The Indian Express that Bihar SIR is a ploy to disenfranchise crores of marginalised voters who will certainly not be able to provide documentation in time. "The BJP is using the EC as its special election machinery, and this exercise will be the absolute burial of an already dying free voting system," she said.

In response to the TMC's allegations, BJP MP Raju Bista noted that such a revision of electoral rolls is mandated by the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to ensure their accuracy. Bista alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government is trying to create fear among minorities to hold onto its vote bank.