Two back-to-back electoral shocks for the Opposition - first in Bihar, then in West Bengal - have triggered a sharp narrative battle. Bruised and searching for answers, the Opposition has doubled down on what it calls the SIR factor, alleging that the electoral process was skewed due to the voter roll revisions. And at the centre of this storm stands the Election Commission of India (ECI), which is facing an intense scrutiny at the moment, due to its handling of the exercise.
The scale of the setbacks matters. In Bihar, the BJP-led NDA won a landslide victory securing 202 of the 243 seats, defeating the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan (MGB) which secured just 35 seats. In West Bengal, the BJP scripted a historic win as it secured 206 of 293 seats, demolishing Mamata Banerjee's TMC which secured 81 seats.
What has followed after both election results is political protests - and legal challenges - over SIR revisions, with Opposition parties accusing the Centre of "vote chori" under the garb of voter roll deletions. On Monday, after the results were declared, Mamata lashed out at the EC, calling it the "BJP's Commission" and accused the BJP of looting "more than 100 seats".
"BJP looted more than 100 seats. The Election Commission is the BJP’s commission,” she said, adding that she had complained to the chief electoral officer, but no action was taken. "Do you think this is a victory? It is an immoral victory, not a moral victory. Whatever the Election Commission has done, along with the central forces, the Prime Minister and Home Minister, is totally illegal. It is loot, loot, loot. We will bounce back," she said.
The Opposition's argument is direct: the SIR exercise has ended up excluding legitimate voters. The EC, however, maintains that the SIR is a necessary and routine process to remove duplicates, deceased voters and ineligible entries. The numbers from Bengal, however, are giving the Opposition narrative sharper teeth.
In nearly 50 seats in West Bengal, the number of electors declared "ineligible" far exceeds the winning margin. This is not confined to one party. Around 25 of these seats were won by the BJP, while a similar number went to the Trinamool Congress - suggesting the issue cuts across political lines.
In several constituencies, the gap is stark - deleted or disputed voters are two to three times the victory margin.
In Champdani, the winning margin stands at just 13 votes, while over 7,600 voters were deleted during adjudication. In Karandighi, more than 31,500 voters were found ineligible, against a winning margin of just over 19,800. In Jangipur, 36,581 electors were flagged, while the margin was barely 10,542. Monteswar saw 23,423 ineligible electors against a margin of 14,700.
Hemtabad reported 18,215 such electors versus a margin of 12,300. Bally recorded a margin of just 4,600, against 11,386 voters under adjudication.
The pattern repeats across regions - from Dinhata to Darjeeling, and Raina to Bally.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
