Major political parties in West Bengal, including the Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), Congress, CPI, and CPI(ML), have united to organize a convention in Kolkata on November 21 to challenge mass voter roll exclusions under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and address 37 lakh pending appeals.
The initiative was announced following the formation of the All Bengal Joint Forum to Safeguard the Right to Vote, a platform comprising political outfits, civil society groups, and citizens. Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata on Saturday, November 14, participants described the fallout from the SIR exercise as a severe humanitarian crisis. A CPI(M) leader stressed that despite continuing political disagreements with the TMC, the parties have joined forces because the issue directly touches citizens' lives and essential rights, noting that political differences cannot impede collective action.
During the briefing, Association for Protection of Civil Rights representative Umar Owais cited a case in Cooch Behar where a newborn baby was reportedly denied a birth certificate due to the father's name missing from the post-SIR voter list, despite both parents holding birth certificates and the father having been registered in the 2002 electoral roll. The forum stated that voter list omissions are leading to wider difficulties involving passports, welfare access, and tribunal hearings. The organizers have placed six key questions before the Election Commission and the state government, seeking clarity on tribunal backlogs, the restoration of names, and the status of citizens facing exclusion.
