Key Highlights:
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee publicly refuted reports by her own party newspaper Jago Bangla claiming she received and agreed to file the SIR form
- The Mamata Banerjee SIR form controversy erupted just one day after she led a massive anti-SIR rally in Kolkata, calling the revision process “silent, invisible rigging”
- Only 32.06 percent of West Bengal’s 7.66 crore voters in 2025 electoral rolls match with the 2002 voter list, according to Election Commission data
Opening Overview
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee found herself at the center of an embarrassing political controversy when Jago Bangla, the official mouthpiece of her Trinamool Congress party, reported that she had personally received the SIR form as part of the Special Intensive Revision process on November 5, 2025. The report, published on the front page of the party newspaper, claimed that a Booth Level Officer distributing the Mamata Banerjee SIR form had visited her residence, where the Chief Minister personally received the enumeration forms and assured the official she would fill and return them.
This incident sparked immediate political backlash, as Banerjee had led a massive anti-SIR rally in Kolkata just 24 hours earlier, denouncing the electoral roll revision as a politically motivated attempt to disenfranchise voters.
In a desperate bid to manipulate the ongoing SIR process, BJP-funded organisations have been caught red-handed running fake “assistance camps” under false identities, without any authorisation from the State Government. Their goal is to harvest citizens’ personal data, spread… pic.twitter.com/nAg3AnhnBS
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) November 4, 2025
The timing of the Mamata Banerjee SIR form report created significant credibility issues for the Chief Minister, who has positioned herself as the leading voice against the Special Intensive Revision process in West Bengal. Banerjee responded swiftly through a Facebook post on November 6, 2025, issuing a categorical denial and calling the Mamata Banerjee SIR form reports “completely false, misleading and purposefully propagated”. The controversy has provided ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which questioned whether the Chief Minister or her party mouthpiece was lying about the SIR form incident, while accusing Banerjee of hypocrisy for publicly opposing SIR while allegedly participating in it privately.
The Mamata Banerjee SIR form incident has intensified political tensions in West Bengal ahead of the crucial 2026 assembly elections, where the ruling Trinamool Congress faces a strengthening challenge from the BJP. With the Election Commission of India having launched the Special Intensive Revision process across 12 states and union territories on November 4, 2025, the controversy surrounding the Mamata Banerjee SIR form has become emblematic of deeper disputes over electoral integrity, voter verification, and political control in one of India’s most politically significant states.
Mamata Banerjee SIR Form Denial
- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee categorically denied personally receiving the SIR form from any Booth Level Officer at her residence
- Banerjee clarified that while BLO officials visited her residential area for electoral duties, she neither stepped out to receive the SIR form nor made any commitment to fill it
- The Chief Minister declared she would not fill the Mamata Banerjee SIR form until every eligible citizen in West Bengal completes the revision process
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued a strong rebuttal on November 6, 2025, through a Facebook post addressing the Mamata Banerjee SIR form reports that she had personally received Special Intensive Revision voter enumeration forms. The Chief Minister stated that a Booth Level Officer had indeed visited her school area in Kalighat to perform assigned electoral duties, and in that process, officials came to her residence office to identify voters and distribute the SIR form to eligible individuals. However, Banerjee emphasized that she did not personally receive the Mamata Banerjee SIR form or make any commitment to fill it out, contradicting the narrative published by multiple media outlets.
In her Facebook clarification about the Mamata Banerjee SIR form controversy, the Chief Minister articulated her position with unambiguous language. “Unless every person in Bengal is filling the form, I cannot and will not fill any form myself,” Banerjee wrote, establishing her stance as one of solidarity with West Bengal’s electorate regarding the SIR form process. This declaration represented more than a simple denial of the Jago Bangla report; it positioned Banerjee as refusing to participate in the SIR form submission until the entire state’s population had been properly enrolled, reflecting her broader critique of how the revision was being implemented.
The Chief Minister specifically addressed what she termed false reporting about the Mamata Banerjee SIR form incident without directly naming Jago Bangla, her party’s official newspaper. Banerjee wrote that various media and newspapers had published that she “came out of the residence and held BLO-R in my hand. Received the enumeration form from you!” calling this news about the Mamata Banerjee SIR form “completely false, misleading and purposefully propagated”. The language suggested that Banerjee viewed the reporting not as an innocent error but as a deliberate attempt to undermine her political opposition to the Special Intensive Revision process in West Bengal.
The Mamata Banerjee SIR form denial highlighted the political sensitivity surrounding voter enumeration forms in West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress has positioned the revision process as a threat to democratic participation. The Chief Minister’s refusal to engage with the Mamata Banerjee SIR form until universal participation was achieved served as both a personal defense against accusations of hypocrisy and a symbolic gesture of protest against what her party characterizes as rushed, politically motivated electoral roll changes.
Special Intensive Revision Process
- The Election Commission of India launched Special Intensive Revision across 12 states and union territories on November 4, 2025, with the SIR form enumeration continuing until December 4, 2025
- West Bengal’s current electoral roll contains 7.66 crore voters, but only 32.06 percent of these names match with the 2002 voter list when SIR was last conducted
- The final electoral roll will be published on February 7, 2026, just months before West Bengal’s crucial assembly elections scheduled for March-April 2026
The Election Commission of India initiated the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls on November 4, 2025, affecting nine states and three union territories, including West Bengal, which faces assembly elections in 2026. According to the official Press Information Bureau notification dated November 3, 2025, the SIR form enumeration period commenced immediately and will continue through December 4, 2025, during which Booth Level Officers conduct door-to-door visits to distribute and collect voter enumeration forms. The Commission exercised its constitutional authority under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution, Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and relevant provisions of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 to order this comprehensive revision involving the SIR form.
West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision process revealed significant discrepancies in voter list continuity, with Election Commission sources confirming that only 2,45,71,114 names out of the state’s total 7,66,37,529 voters in the 2025 electoral roll matched with the 2002 voter list. This 32.06 percent matching rate created what analysts termed a “two-track verification system” where matched voters face simplified SIR form submission while the remaining 68 percent of voters must undergo more complex multi-step verification processes. Districts showed significant variation in matching percentages, with South Kolkata recording just 35 percent, Howrah 38 percent, and Paschim Bardhaman 31 percent, while Bankura achieved the highest matching rate at 79 percent.
The Special Intensive Revision process follows a structured timeline established by the Election Commission to ensure electoral roll accuracy before the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections. After the SIR form enumeration period concludes on December 4, 2025, draft electoral rolls will be published on December 9, 2025, followed by a claims and objections period extending until January 8, 2026. The final electoral roll will be released on February 7, 2026, providing the definitive voter list for the assembly elections expected in March-April 2026. This compressed timeline, converting a process that historically took nearly two and a half years in 2002 into just two months, has become a central point of contention for opposition parties in West Bengal.
The Mamata Banerjee government and Trinamool Congress have characterized the Special Intensive Revision as rushed and politically motivated, arguing that the tight SIR form submission timeline risks excluding legitimate voters. The Election Commission designed the SIR process with three primary objectives: inclusion of all new eligible citizens who will be 18 years old by January 1, 2026; removal of ineligible entries such as deceased persons, permanently relocated voters, and duplicate entries; and correction of existing voter details to ensure accuracy.
However, Trinamool Congress leaders including Abhishek Banerjee have warned that even a single wrongful deletion of an eligible voter would trigger protests reaching Delhi, while the Chief Minister has cautioned about political consequences if voters are unjustly removed from electoral rolls.
Political Ramifications and BJP Response
- BJP questioned whether Mamata Banerjee or her party mouthpiece Jago Bangla was lying about the SIR form incident
- The saffron party accused Banerjee of refusing to fill the SIR form until names of Rohingyas, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis are included in voter lists
- BJP delegation led by Amit Malviya met Election Commission officials requesting verification of West Bengal documents related to the SIR form, claiming many are illegally obtained
The Bharatiya Janata Party seized on the Mamata Banerjee SIR form controversy to launch sharp attacks against the West Bengal Chief Minister’s credibility. BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul directly questioned the veracity of the Trinamool Congress’s internal communications, asking “Who is telling lies? Is it the Trinamool mouthpiece or Mamata?” regarding the SIR form reports.
Paul further alleged that Banerjee’s stated refusal to fill the Mamata Banerjee SIR form until every Bengal resident completes the process was actually a coded reference to her desire to ensure illegal immigrants from neighboring countries were included on electoral rolls, claiming “She wanted to say that until the names of Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are included in the voter list, she would not fill SIR”.
The controversy over the Mamata Banerjee SIR form report provided the BJP with ammunition to advance broader allegations about electoral irregularities in West Bengal. A BJP delegation led by senior party leader Amit Malviya met with Election Commission officials on November 2, 2025, urging the Commission to review and verify documents related to the Special Intensive Revision process and SIR form submissions in West Bengal. Malviya claimed that many documents registered in the state for SIR purposes were “illegally obtained and completely illegitimate,” and requested the Commission investigate alleged cases of Booth Level Officers being threatened and intimidated.
The BJP escalated its challenge to West Bengal’s electoral integrity by providing the Election Commission with a specific list of documents that should be treated with skepticism during the Special Intensive Revision verification process and SIR form authentication. The party’s submission suggested exercising great caution with Birth Certificates, Permanent Residence Certificates, Forest Rights Certificates, Caste Certificates, Family Registers, and Land and House Allotment Certificates issued by the state government, alleging these had been issued on a “backdated” and “forged” basis on a large scale. The BJP also recommended that the Election Commission require additional supporting documents from West Bengal residents beyond the standard Mamata Banerjee SIR form enumeration process.
The political stakes surrounding the Mamata Banerjee SIR form controversy became clearer when viewed against West Bengal’s evolving electoral landscape. In the 2021 assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress won 213 of 294 seats with a 48 percent vote share, while the BJP secured 77 seats with a 38 percent vote share, marking a dramatic rise from the party’s three seats in the 2016 elections. The BJP’s accusations regarding voter list manipulation and the Mamata Banerjee refusal to personally complete the SIR form reflect the party’s strategy of questioning electoral legitimacy in a state where it has made significant inroads and views the 2026 elections as a potential path to power.
Jago Bangla Newspaper Role
- Jago Bangla was founded in 2015 as the weekly mouthpiece of the All India Trinamool Congress and converted to a daily newspaper in July 2021
- The newspaper’s November 5, 2025, front-page report claiming Mamata Banerjee received the SIR form contradicted the Chief Minister’s public anti-SIR stance
- Sukhendu Sekhar Roy currently serves as editor of Jago Bangla following the removal of former minister Partha Chatterjee from the position
Jago Bangla occupies a unique position in West Bengal’s political media landscape as the official mouthpiece of the All India Trinamool Congress, founded in 2015 during Mamata Banerjee’s second term as Chief Minister. The publication was initially launched as a weekly Bengali newspaper, serving as the Trinamool Congress’s primary vehicle for communicating party ideology, defending government policies, and countering opposition narratives in West Bengal’s politically charged environment. Following the party’s decisive third consecutive victory in the 2021 assembly elections, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee announced plans to transform Jago Bangla from a weekly to a daily newspaper, officially launching the expanded daily edition on July 21, 2021, known as Martyrs Day in West Bengal.
The November 5, 2025, front-page Mamata Banerjee SIR form report in Jago Bangla claiming that the Chief Minister had personally received voter enumeration forms from a Booth Level Officer created an unprecedented credibility crisis for both the newspaper and Banerjee. According to the Jago Bangla article about the Mamata Banerjee SIR form, an Election Commission official distributing enumeration forms had visited Banerjee’s residence, where the Chief Minister personally received the forms and assured the official she would complete and return them.
This report appeared particularly damaging because it emerged just one day after Mamata Banerjee led a massive rally in Kolkata protesting against the Special Intensive Revision process, creating an apparent contradiction between her public opposition to the SIR form and private participation in it.
The Mamata Banerjee denial of the SIR form report raised questions about editorial control and accuracy standards at the Trinamool Congress’s official newspaper. The Chief Minister’s Facebook post did not explicitly name Jago Bangla but referred to “various media and newspapers” that published false information about the Mamata Banerjee SIR form, an indirect but unmistakable reference to her party’s mouthpiece. The incident highlighted potential coordination failures between the Chief Minister’s office and the party’s official media outlet, particularly given that Jago Bangla’s institutional purpose is to amplify and defend Mamata Banerjee’s political positions rather than contradict them on issues like the SIR form.
Jago Bangla’s editorial leadership has experienced significant changes in recent years, reflecting broader political developments within the Trinamool Congress. Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy currently serves as the newspaper’s editor after the Trinamool Congress removed former West Bengal cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee from the position in 2022 amid investigations into a school recruitment scam.
The newspaper maintains distribution through approximately 5,000 notice boards across West Bengal where copies are displayed publicly, continuing a tradition of political party newspapers that was pioneered in the state by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Ganashakti during the Left Front’s 34-year rule. The Mamata Banerjee SIR form controversy represents one of the most significant editorial missteps in Jago Bangla’s history, undermining the Chief Minister’s political messaging at a critical juncture ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Final Perspective
The controversy surrounding the Mamata Banerjee SIR form crystallizes the intense political battles shaping West Bengal ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. The incident exposed vulnerabilities in the Trinamool Congress’s political messaging apparatus when its own mouthpiece, Jago Bangla, published reports contradicting the Chief Minister’s carefully constructed opposition to the SIR process. Banerjee’s categorical denial and declaration that she would not fill the Mamata Banerjee SIR form until every Bengal resident completes the process represents an attempt to reclaim the narrative and reinforce her position as the primary voice against what she characterizes as politically motivated electoral manipulation.
The underlying tensions revealed by the Mamata Banerjee SIR form episode extend far beyond a single misreported incident to encompass fundamental disagreements about electoral integrity in West Bengal. With only 32.06 percent of the state’s 7.66 crore voters in 2025 matching the 2002 electoral rolls, the Special Intensive Revision process presents genuine administrative challenges that have become entangled with partisan accusations and counter-accusations about the SIR form. The BJP’s allegations of forged documents and illegal voter enrollments, combined with the Trinamool Congress’s claims of deliberate voter disenfranchisement through the SIR form process, have transformed a technical electoral roll update into a major political flashpoint with potential consequences for the democratic legitimacy of the upcoming assembly elections.
As West Bengal navigates the remaining months before the February 7, 2026, publication of final electoral rolls and the subsequent March-April 2026 assembly elections, the Mamata Banerjee refusal to personally complete the SIR form has emerged as a powerful symbolic gesture. Whether viewed as principled solidarity with potentially disenfranchised voters or as political theater designed to mobilize opposition to the BJP, the Chief Minister’s stance on the Mamata Banerjee SIR form reflects the high stakes of electoral competition in a state where power dynamics have shifted significantly since 2016.
The controversy also serves as a reminder of the complex relationship between political parties and their media mouthpieces, particularly when institutional loyalty to party leadership collides with the unpredictable dynamics of daily news reporting in India’s most politically contentious states.
