Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of conducting West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in a “lawless” and arbitrary manner, citing a detailed investigation by The Reporters’ Collective. Sharing the report, Ghose said: “A detailed report here on how a lawless ECI tailored the WB SIR entirely to its whims.”
According to the Reporters’ Collective report, the ECI repeatedly changed procedures during the SIR process without issuing formal public notifications. Instead, key operational instructions were allegedly communicated through informal channels such as WhatsApp messages and verbal directions. The investigation states that these frequent mid-course changes violated established electoral rules and undermined transparency, making it difficult for voters and frontline officials to understand or comply with the process.
The report highlights that the statutory authority of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs)-who are legally responsible for additions and deletions in voter rolls-was significantly diluted. Centralised digital systems and handpicked observers reportedly exercised overriding control, reducing EROs to what the report describes as “rubber stamps”. It further alleges that crucial decisions were driven by centrally managed software rather than on-ground verification.
A major focus of the investigation is the role of election software used during the SIR. The report claims that the software was revised multiple times during the process, often without documentation or public disclosure. These changes allegedly led to large-scale flagging of voters due to minor discrepancies, digitisation errors and data mismatches.
Ground surveys and testimonies cited in the report suggest that many voters were asked to submit additional documents not originally specified, while others received notices without clear explanations, raising concerns about the possible exclusion of legitimate voters.
Reacting to the findings, TMC MP Saket Gokhale termed the report “explosive”. “A detailed investigation shows how the ECI has literally rigged the SIR process in Bengal through illegal instructions and software manipulation,” he said, alleging that the integrity of the electoral process had been compromised.
In an official statement, the Trinamool Congress accused the ECI of reducing the voter roll revision to a “do-as-you-please spectacle”, claiming that rules were arbitrarily altered mid-process to serve the interests of the BJP. The party alleged that flawed algorithms effectively disenfranchised nearly 1.4 crore legitimate voters, while local officials were sidelined in favour of centralised control.