Congress questions Bengal Governor’s remarks on SIR, asks if he plans to enter electoral politics

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The Congress on Wednesday said that West Bengal Governor C.V. Anand Bose should clarify why he is “advocating” the Special Intensive Review (SIR) process, and questioned whether his comments are linked to any political ambition.

The party also asked whether the Governor intends to contest elections, suggesting that this could be the reason behind his public statements on the issue.

The reaction comes after Governor Bose said that the SIR process has helped drive out Bangladeshi infiltrators from West Bengal since its implementation.

In an interview with IANS, the Governor said that the SIR process will bring out a change in the Bengal Assembly elections and “cleanse” the system as the state is witnessing an outflow of illegal immigrants. He further mentioned that the problem will decrease, though not be “completely eliminated”.

Responding to these remarks, the Congress said the Governor should clearly state how many Bangladeshi infiltrators are still residing in the state.

Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi, speaking to IANS, said, “He (Governor C.V. Bose) should clarify whether any Bangladeshi immigrants are still left. It shouldn’t be that in the next elections, the same slogan is used that illegal migrants are being removed. Why does the Governor feel the need to advocate for SIR? Is he contesting elections or helping the BJP?”

Alvi also recalled Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s recent remarks on the SIR exercise, in which he claimed that nearly four crore voters were “missing” during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in the state. CM Yogi had urged party workers to reach out to every voter at the booth level during the remaining days of the SIR process to ensure their names were enumerated.

Reacting to this, Alvi said, “Hasn’t the Bengal Governor heard Yogi Adityanath’s statement that four crore votes were deleted due to SIR? He has said that the SIR is incorrect. Till now, only we, the Opposition, were saying these things. Today, even a big leader of their own party is saying these things.”

Congress MP Sukhdeo Bhagat also raised questions about the Governor’s role and whether any formal reports had been submitted to the President regarding the alleged infiltration issue.

“Has the Governor submitted any report to the President? If such things were happening, the President would be informed. Did he submit any internal report? How many intruders are there?” Bhagat asked.

Meanwhile, the BJP came out in support of the West Bengal Governor’s statement, asserting that there has indeed been a large outflow of Bangladeshi infiltrators from the state since the SIR process began.

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo, speaking to IANS, said, “He is right. One thing is clear: since SIR began, illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators have been fleeing back to Bangladesh. This is the kind of deterrence that needs to be created.”

“Additionally, it is unfortunate that the maximum discrepancies under SIR were found in Mamata Banerjee’s constituency, where the highest number of people were removed. This clearly indicates that in West Bengal there was an attempt by the government to provide, in effect, state patronage to infiltrators,” he claimed.

The Bengal SIR exercise commenced on December 4 and wrapped up on December 11, experiencing a notable departure of illegal Bangladeshis and demonstrations from booth-level officers (BLOs) due to stringent deadlines and work pressure.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has released the draft electoral rolls for the upcoming elections in West Bengal, following the controversial SIR process, resulting in the identification of over 58 lakh voter names slated for removal.

The issuance of the draft voter list signifies the end of the enumeration stage and the beginning of a more challenging process involving claims, objections, and hearings.

The second phase of the three-part SIR exercise will continue until February 2026. The final voters’ list is set to be published on February 14, 2026, in anticipation of the Bengal Assembly elections.

As per the data provided by the ECI, a total of 58,20,898 voter names have been flagged for deletion, which encompasses approximately 24,16,852 electors deemed deceased, 19,88,076 voters who have either moved permanently or migrated, 12,20,038 voters categorised as missing, and 1,38,328 names identified as duplicates, false, or bogus entries. In addition, another 57,604 names have been recommended for removal due to “other reasons”.

–IANS

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