TMC Starts Groundwork for 2nd Phase of SIR; Focuses on Migrant Workers, Document-Less Voters

PTI, KOLKATA, DECEMBER 11, 2025: With the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ending on Thursday and the draft rolls set for publication next week, the ruling TMC in West Bengal has already launched an aggressive three-track strategy to protect its voter base in the second phase, party leaders said.

Senior leaders told newspersons that the party has begun "early groundwork" on three crucial fronts: bringing back migrant workers to ensure in-person verification, identifying and assisting document-less voters, and adding the names of newly married women who have shifted residences. The party, they said, has instructed its organisation down to the booth and block levels to remain "on high alert."

A senior TMC leader said: "The first phase created some wounds because of the pressure exerted by the Commission. The second phase offers us the chance to apply the balm. We cannot afford to slip."

The first major thrust area is voters who lack the 2002 family linkage on the rolls as well as any of the documents prescribed by the Election Commission. TMC leaders concede that this group is vulnerable and at risk of exclusion. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already announced that from December 12, every block will host a "May I Help You" camp where state government officials will assist citizens in generating necessary documents.

A senior TMC leader told news agency PTI: "The state administration is willing to help but taking these document-less voters to the camps is organisational work. We have identified most such voters during the first phase. Taking them to the government camps will not be very difficult because most of the elected local representatives belong to our party."

The party has prepared a draft list of such voters and circulated it among local leaders. According to senior functionaries, the TMC's internal assessment shows that several districts in south Bengal still have a significant portion of migrant workers who did not return during the first phase. Although family members submitted enumeration forms on their behalf, the party fears many names may not make it to the draft rolls unless the workers appear physically during hearings.