The ruling Trinamool Congress had demanded a discussion on the difficulties faced by voters due to the SIR process ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
New Delhi: Politics has intensified in West Bengal over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. On one hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to Delhi to raise concerns about alleged irregularities in the process.
On the other hand, due to the matter reaching the Supreme Court, the Assembly Speaker refused to allow a debate on the proposed discussion on the SIR. The ruling Trinamool Congress had demanded a discussion on the difficulties faced by voters due to the SIR process ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari accused the government of changing the Business Advisory Committee's proposal at the last minute. Adhikari said, "We were told that there would be a discussion on the SIR, and we came prepared. Now, it is being changed." He demanded that the Speaker place the list of business before the House.
Earlier, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay read out a resolution demanding a discussion on the SIR process. This resolution was supported by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Introducing the resolution under Rule 169, Chattopadhyay alleged that the SIR process had caused hardship to voters and claimed that 107 people had died due to concerns over the process.
Director of Census Operations appointed in West Bengal
Meanwhile, the Centre has appointed Rashmi Kamal, a 2006 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, as the Director of Census Operations and Director of Citizen Registration for West Bengal.
When will the census be held?
Kamal has been appointed on central deputation under the Central Staffing Scheme from January 14. She will hold the post for a period of three years or until further orders. The census will be conducted in two phases by the Registrar General of India in 2027. Each state and Union Territory will complete this work between April 1 and September 30.
In the first phase, the house listing operation involves collecting information about the housing conditions, property, amenities, etc., of each household, while in the second phase, the population enumeration, demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other information about each individual is collected. The second phase is likely to take place in February of next year.
