Bengal SIR: Protest, Blockade Over Deletion Of Names Rock Hasnabad
Trinamool Congress members burnt the effigy of Opposition leader Suvendu Ahikari. They said the omission is a conspiracy of the BJP and the Election Commission.
Published : March 1, 2026 at 3:34 PM IST
Basirhat: Hasnabad in the North 24 Paragans was rocked on Saturday night by protests from members of the ruling Trinamool Congress over the deletion of names from the final electoral roll published on February 28 in the aftermath of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Protesters burnt an effigy of West Bengal legislative assembly Opposition leader Shuvendu Adhikari, blaming him for the omission, apart from burning tyres on the streets and raising slogans. This resulted in a blockade of Lebukhali Road, the junction of Basirhat-Hasnabad, disrupting traffic movement. Later, the police had to control the situation and restore vehicular traffic.
The protesters claimed that the names of valid voters have been systematically removed from the electoral roll due to a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. "The Election Commission has selectively targeted minority-dominated booths to remove names of valid voters. About 400 minority voters in booth number 111 of Sahapur have been removed from the final list. This conspiracy of the BJP and the Election Commission will not be accepted," said a TMC member.
The final voter list was published on Saturday, leading to anger and protests in various parts of the state. During SIR, several complaints were raised from the border areas of the district. Sometimes, serious allegations of rigging in the enumeration form were raised against Bangladeshi citizens living on the other side of the border. Allegations against illegal voters pretending to be their neighbours and filing the forms were also raised. A majority of such irregularities were reported from the Basirhat subdivision, and 'suspicious' voters were called for a hearing.
Meanwhile, 16,125 names were removed from the final electoral roll from the Basirhat subdivision alone. The number is a little over 4,500 in the combined Basirhat North and South assembly constituencies. Local sources said out of 1,065 people in booth number 111 of Sahapur under Basirhat South assembly constituency, 400 were shown as 'deleted' in the final list. This enraged the TMC workers, who started a blockade.
Shahjahan Moral, TMC president for booth number 111 in Sahapur, said, "The names of about 400 minority voters from this booth have been omitted from the final voter list. However, the names of 120 Hindu voters from the same booth have been included. This has been done as it is a minority-dominated booth. This is a planned conspiracy of the BJP. We have taken to the streets to protest against this."
Madin Biswas, whose name was omitted, said, "Out of 1,069 voters, 517 names were in the logical discrepancy list. Out of them, the names of 400 voters have been put under either 'deleted' or 'under review' categories. During the tenure of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the name of a valid voter cannot be omitted. We will not accept that. We have joined the blockade and protest in protest of this move."
Palash Sarkar, president of the BJP's Basirhat organisational district youth wing, said, "No matter how much the Trinamool takes to the streets to protest or oppose the SIR, the names of illegal voters will not be in the final list. The Trinamool is very angry that the names of illegal voters have been excluded, as they are the vote bank of the ruling party. It is just a matter of time before the Trinamool is wiped out in the 26th assembly elections, as the people of Bengal are ready to bring the BJP to power."
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