On 17 September 2025, the CPI(ML) Liberation West Bengal State Committee organized a people’s convention titled “SIR: An Assault on Voting Rights, Citizenship and the Constitution” at the Moulali Yuba Kendra in Kolkata. The convention was inaugurated by anti fascist songs by the Paschim Banga Ganasanskriti Parishad. Introducing the session, CPIML State Secretary Com. Abhijit Majumdar, highlighted the dangers of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. He pointed out that the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting itself has admitted under RTI that India has no single citizenship register. In Bihar, nearly 6.5 million names were dropped from the voters’ list, many of them are poor and migrant workers. With the Election Commission acting increasingly like a tool of the ruling party, Com. Abhijit warned of the threat of disenfranchisement, detention camps, and bonded-like labour. In upcoming elections in West Bengal, it is the responsibility of the Left to break the bipolar dominance of BJP and TMC to champion these issues. CPIML CC member, Com. Indrani Dutta introduced the draft resolution, emphasizing that the poor, working people, and women would be the worst affected by SIR. Party's state organ Ajker Deshbrati released a booklet on the subject.
The resolution noted:
- After Bihar, the Election Commission has initiated SIR across India, including West Bengal, where voter list mapping began on 12 September. SIR is a fascist assault on voting rights, citizenship, and the Constitution. Building a united Left resistance against it is the need of the hour.
- In Bihar, 8.31% voters (6.57 million people) were arbitrarily removed, 3.5 million migrant workers. 2.2 million marked as “dead,” whereas many are alive. Over 800,000 shown as “shifted” without any specific information submitted by BLOs. The worst affected were poor, dalits, Adivasis, migrants, women, and minorities. In the draft list, while the names of millions of legitimate citizens have been wrongfully excluded, countless fake names have also been fraudulently added.
- The EC has rejected Supreme Court advice to accept voter card, Aadhaar, or ration card as valid documents and instead claims sweeping powers under Article 324 while neglecting universal suffrage guaranteed under Article 326.
- SIR is essentially a backdoor NRC, targeting especially Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states, branding them as “Bangladeshi” or “Rohingya,” pushing them back at borders, and planning detention centres.
- The experience of Bihar shows massive exclusion, fraudulent deletions and insertions, and political misuse of the process.
The resolution stressed the need for united left resistance. Already, Bihar’s “Voter Rights Yatra” by the opposition alliance gained wide support with the slogan “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chod!” The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on 7 October 2025, but people’s mobilization is crucial.
Addressing the convention, CPI(ML) GS Dipankar Bhattacharya said that Election Commission is now claiming that only citizens can vote. But to decide who can vote, it first seeks to determine who is a citizen — a role never meant for it. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on this claim. Such actions mark a break from India’s eight-decade-old electoral tradition, globally admired for ensuring universal suffrage.
In India, around 96% of people are automatically enrolled on voter lists by the state, unlike countries like the U.S., where individuals must register themselves, and large sections, particularly Black people, were historically excluded. From the very first elections under Sukumar Sen, India guaranteed universal suffrage. The new SIR process reverses this legacy, aiming instead to strip voting rights.
Migrant workers are one of the main targets. In Bihar, 3.5 million migrant workers were excluded by redefining “ordinary resident.” They were told to vote only where they work, not in their native villages, though in reality they always return home to vote during elections, during covid, demonetization, crises, or any family needs. Requiring employers’ signatures and local references makes registration nearly impossible. Anyone suspected risks being pushed into detention camps, as seen in Assam. If Bengal ever comes under BJP rule, local police will stop certifying migrant workers, leading to the disenfranchisement of huge numbers, especially minorities.
In Bihar, it was feared up to 20 million names would be dropped; due to mass protests, the number came down to 6.5 million. Only through struggle did the EC step back in some areas, accepting forms without documents, publishing lists of excluded names, and finally being forced by the Supreme Court to accept Aadhaar as proof.
This is nothing but vote theft, giving rise to the popular slogan “Vote chor, gaddi chor” (Vote thieves, quit power). The SIR’s corruption, complexities, and manipulations, exposed in Bihar, will now unfold in West Bengal, where only CPI(M) and Forward Bloc have the formal authority to appoint booth-level agents. The battle will sharpen here.
We have seen “D-voters” created in Assam and people pushed into detention camps. Some call for boycotting SIR, but that is not the right path. Elections exist, and people still believe in electoral democracy. But fascism does not abolish elections overnight , even Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections. Fascism gradually makes elections meaningless. Today, BJP wants to prove the Constitution is dead, even declaring 25 June 1975 as “Constitution Murder Day.” Our task is to prove the Constitution lives, and so do the rights and powers it guarantees. The coming elections in West Bengal will be a major battle. Every person’s right to vote must be defended. It is not enough to say “my vote remains while someone else’s is gone”. We must fight for the rights of all.
Manoj Bhattacharya, GS of RSP GS said that a new form of fascism is rising globally; the Modi government is advancing it in India to serve capital.
Addressing the convention Mohammad Salim, CPI(M) WB Secretary said Bihar’s experience will help Bengal. He warned that since coming to power, the Modi government has undermined independent institutions, turned the Election Commission into a BJP tool, and is using the SIR to harass citizens by branding them fake or Bangladeshi voters. Salim argued that SIR distracts from real issues like education, health, and jobs, and threatens universal franchise. He urged all left forces to unite, build a mass movement, and defend voters from being excluded. He condemned the BJP-RSS attempt to portray Bengali Muslims and migrant workers as outsiders, calling it a dangerous move towards statelessness that must be resisted.
For this, a massive popular movement must be built, and people must be united. The work done by CPI(ML) in Naihati on the SIR issue has already shown results. Now, intensive efforts are needed across the state. Here, the Left must work unitedly, mobilizing people booth by booth to resist the conspiracy to exclude legitimate voters from the electoral rolls.
Swapan Banerjee (State Secretary, CPI) said that by subjugating the Election Commission, SIR is being imposed, this is the latest assault on democracy, the Constitution, and voting rights. The Left must take the lead in resisting it. State Secretary of SUCI(C), Chandidas Bhattacharya added that the EC has no mandate to judge citizenship, yet is doing so under BJP pressure. The right to citizenship is being stripped away to intimidate people. The fight against the SIR must be seen as part of the broader struggle against fascism. This is an attack by monopoly capital on the working class, and it must be resisted through our struggle. The left must fight this battle in united strength.
Demands & Action Plan from the Convention
1. Submit memoranda to the Chief Electoral Officer demanding withdrawal of SIR and demand social audit of voter lists instead.
2. Urge the state government to provide birth certificates, permanent residence, and caste certificates through booth-level camps.
3. Reject forced deportation of long-settled voters or detention camps turning the country into a prison.
4. Prevent disenfranchisement of migrant workers by marking them “absent.”
5. Left parties to jointly run a statewide awareness campaign exposing EC manipulation.
6. Establish joint helpdesks at booths to assist poor and marginalized citizens in securing inclusion in voter lists.
The convention concluded with a call to Bengal’s citizens to unite in a mass democratic movement to defend voting rights, resist disenfranchisement, and safeguard the Constitution and democracy from the SIR project.
