Abhishek Banerjee Challenges BJP: In what is fast becoming a fierce frontline in the political battle of West Bengal, the national general secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), Abhishek Banerjee, has ramped up his rhetoric against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing them of orchestrating a citizenship/identification exercise that threatens the legitimate voting rights of ordinary people. At the heart of the dispute is the ECI’s roll-revision exercise, known as the “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR), and the demand (per Banerjee) that BJP campaigners must first prove the birth-certificates of their fathers and grandfathers before entering localities.
By publicly daring local BJP leaders to present the documentation his party says the government demands from others, Banerjee has effectively turned the document-verification process into a broader question of identity, citizenship, power and trust. As West Bengal prepares for its next Assembly elections, this clash between TMC and BJP over SIR, voter rights and institutional trust is amplifying.
The Key Statement & Provocative Call
On 29 October 2025, Abhishek Banerjee addressed a public gathering and made the following pointed remarks:
- He asked that if local BJP leaders come into a locality for campaigning, they be asked to “bring the birth-certificates of their fathers and grandfathers first before they start campaigning.”
- Underscoring the demand, he suggested the crowd “gherao” (surround) the BJP campaigners until the documents are produced. Banerjee clarified: “Tie them to a tree or a post – but don’t assault them, as we believe in peace.”
- Further, he questioned whether Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself could produce the birth certificate of his father — insinuating that the requirement imposed on ordinary citizens should first apply to those in power.
The upshot: A local campaign tactic has been reframed as a challenge to power structures and documented citizenship—and a direct gesture to cast doubt on the fairness of the SIR process.
What is the SIR and Why Does It Matter?
The SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls is a procedure by the Election Commission to update and verify voter lists, identifying duplicate, deceased or ineligible names, and ensuring accuracy ahead of major elections. Typically, a variety of documents may be required — one among them being a person’s birth certificate, or in some cases, a parent’s birth certificate before certain cut-offs.
In West Bengal, TMC has been warning that the SIR process risks being used as a covert form of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) — a controversial exercise implemented in Assam — potentially disenfranchising Bengali-speaking citizens and vulnerable communities.
Banerjee’s attacks situate the SIR not just as administrative housekeeping but as a political instrument of fear and control — especially in a State where the next Assembly polls are approaching and the BJP is seeking inroads.
TMC’s Argument: Citizenship Under Threat
The TMC leadership, including Banerjee and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, argue that:
- Many ordinary voters, especially older citizens, those born at home, or from marginalised communities, may not have birth certificates or ancestral documents—they fear being excluded from the electoral roll.
- The requirement of parent-birth certificates is unrealistic for those born decades ago. Banerjee invoked this as a test for the BJP: “If you ask us for our documents, first produce yours.”
- The SIR process is being framed as neutral—but its timing and document requirements give it a discriminatory edge against certain demographics (e.g., Bengali-speaking migrants or long-resident populations with informal registration).
- Therefore, the challenge to BJP campaigners’ documentation is symbolic: “If you enforce these rules on us, first show you meet them.”
By doing so, TMC is attempting both to mobilise its base around a fear of disenfranchisement, and to position itself as the defender of voting rights and Bengali identity.
BJP’s Response and Institutional Push-back
The BJP and its state leadership have responded to Banerjee’s remarks with caution and criticism:
- The BJP’s West Bengal state president, Samik Bhattacharya, said the party was not concerned about Banerjee’s statements, and emphasised that ensuring democratic rights is the constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission or the Governor’s office — not something that reduces to personal document-wars.
- The BJP has also demanded that the ECI act upon Banerjee’s call to tie up political workers until documents are produced, terming it incitement or at least highly irresponsible.
- While the BJP defends the SIR process as routine administrative exercise, its critics say the timing and emphasis on certain documents, in a politically charged state, render it far more than that.
Thus, the institutional clash involves not just two parties but the Election Commission, document-policy, and citizenship verification regimes.
The Incident Trigger: Suicide & SIR Anxiety
A crucial flashpoint for the crisis was the alleged suicide of a 57-year-old man, Pradeep Kar, in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Kar’s death was linked by TMC to his anxiety over the SIR process. Banerjee visited his family and demanded an FIR against Amit Shah and ECI Chief Gyanesh Kumar for what he called “creating a climate of panic”.
For TMC, the case provides a human story around their fear narrative. For the BJP, it raises questions over how voter-roll exercises are perceived and managed, and whether procedural detail translates into anxiety for certain communities.
Abhishek Banerjee Challenges BJP: Political Stakes in West Bengal
West Bengal is scheduled for Assembly elections in 2026. The BJP has set its sights on the state, while TMC is aiming to consolidate its dominance. In this context:
- The SIR exercise is seen by TMC as a political instrument to reshape voter rolls in a way favourable to the BJP.
- For BJP, it is a legitimate administrative exercise to clean up the voter list and assert accountability.
- The documentation-demand, mobilised by Banerjee, becomes a litmus test: do you ask ordinary voters for proof and yet campaign without disclosing your own?
- The identity politics of Bengal — Bengali language, migrant communities, border districts, historical demography — all intersect with document-verification, making this more than mere electoral housekeeping.
Citizenship, Identity and Document Politics
Several deeper themes emerge from this clash:
1. Document Verification as Power
The demand for birth certificates of parents and grandparents translates into a verification of lineage, ancestry, and territorial belonging. For people born decades ago, or from marginalised backgrounds, this may be a barrier.
2. Identity Politics of Bengal
Bengali-speaking, sometimes migrant, populations often have informal registration histories. The fear, as expressed by TMC, is that rigorous verification may exclude them from the roll — thus from political voice. The BJP, on other hand, emphasises legal citizenship and registration.
3. Trust in Institutions
When political parties question whether the ECI is acting neutrally, and whether document-requirements are applied uniformly, institutional trust is challenged. Banerjee’s phrasing “If you ask us, first ask yourself” is a direct attack on that trust.
4. Contestation over Victimhood & Agency
TMC is positioning itself as the protector of the ‘ordinary voter’ under threat. BJP peers may say this is fear-mongering. The battle is not just about numbers but about who is perceived as vulnerable or empowered.
Regional and National Implications
While this controversy is geographically situated in West Bengal, its implications ripple beyond:
- The SIR model has been deployed in multiple states; its translation into Bengal may serve as a precedent for other states with high stakes in border/migrant populations.
- The challenge of obtaining birth certificates for older citizens or those born at home is nationwide; the Bengal dispute may underscore systemic documentation gaps.
- The inter-play between central power (through ECI or Home Ministry) and state-identity (through TMC’s narrative) becomes a template for other states where identity politics, citizenship verification and electoral rolls intersect.
- The language and migrant identity issues raised (e.g., Bengali-speaking populations, banter over “Bangladeshi language”) connect to broader themes of assimilation, exclusion and voting rights across India.
Potential Scenarios Ahead
From the existing standoff, several scenarios may unfold:
- Escalation: The TMC may mobilise mass protests, legal petitions, and workshops to assist people in “document gathering,” thereby turning SIR into a larger movement.
- Institutional Push-Back: The ECI or state labour may clarify the document requirements, adjust them temporarily, or issue clarifications to reduce fear—thereby diffusing the situation.
- Co-option: The BJP may offer document-aid camps, reassure populations, and emphasise fairness to undercut TMC’s narrative of fear.
- Polarisation: The documentation question becomes an electoral issue — communities feel targeted or empowered — and the Assembly elections become partly about citizenship and rights rather than just development.
Deeper Questions & Challenges
• Why treat birth certificates of ancestors as campaign prerequisites?
Banerjee’s challenge is rhetorically aimed at flipping the logic of the document demand: if they ask us for proof, we ask them for theirs first. But it raises a question: Should campaigners and political agents be subject to documentation demands? The normative argument would say no; the underlying point is symbolic rather than legal.
• How many voters can actually produce parent/grandparent certificates?
Many older citizens in rural India may not have official birth records, particularly if born at home or in remote areas. The ECI’s requirement may thus impose a hardship disproportionally on marginalised populations. TMC leverages this as evidence of exclusion risk.
• Is the SIR process inherently discriminatory?
That depends on how it’s implemented. If it’s a neutral administrative update, then yes, it is standard. If it disproportionately impacts certain demographics, then it may have discriminatory effect. Banerjee is arguing the latter.
• What does this mean for democracy and voting rights?
If legitimate voters are fearful of being removed from rolls due to lack of documents, that undermines democratic participation. The counterside: inaccurate rolls undermine the integrity of elections. The balance is critical.
• Where is identity, language and regional belonging in all of this?
For Bengal, Bengali language, migrant communities, home-births and informal registration are part of the social reality. Document demands intersect with these realities in complex ways, making the controversy about more than just papers—it’s about belonging.
Conclusion
As West Bengal marches towards its next Assembly election, the confrontation between Abhishek Banerjee (TMC) and the BJP regarding the SIR and document demands is emblematic of the larger battle over identity, citizenship, voter rights and institutional trust. Banerjee’s provocative call to demand birth-certificates from BJP campaigners before allowing them to campaign is both rhetorical strategy and protest symbol, meant to turn the documentation regime back on its originators.
For millions of ordinary Bengalis, especially those born before 2002, marginalised, rural, or with informal birth registration, the stakes are deep. If document-proof becomes central to electoral inclusion, the fear of exclusion becomes political currency. And if political parties themselves are challenged to produce documentation, the power dynamic is inverted.
In the end, the controversy forces us to ask: Who gets to ask for whom’s documents? And in a democracy where the vote is the crucial tool of citizenship, how do we ensure that document-verification does not become a new form of exclusion? West Bengal’s unfolding narrative may offer lessons—and warnings—for the country at large.
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