{
  "id": 17399900,
  "title": "Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya seeks fresh SIR in State, says earlier exercise incomplete",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/bengal-bjp-chief-samik-bhattacharya-seeks-fresh-sir-in-state-says",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-31T12:09:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/west-bengal/bengal-bjp-chief-samik-bhattacharya-seeks-fresh-sir-in-state-says-earlier-exercise-incomplete/article71649262.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya has called for a fresh Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, arguing that the previous revision conducted ahead of the Assembly elections was incomplete. At the inaugural meeting of a trade union of contractual workers in Kolkata, Bhattacharya emphasized the need for a renewed SIR, highlighting that the Assembly elections in Bihar took place after West Bengal's SIR while no such revision occurred in Haryana and Delhi prior to their respective elections, both of which saw the BJP's victory.\n\nBhattacharya pointed out that 91 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls during West Bengal's SIR, attributing the deletions to the identification of over 20 lakh fake Swasthyasathi cards. He questioned the Opposition's demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, suggesting that the CEC was being idolized in West Bengal, and proposed that Kumar should receive at least the Padma Bhushan award. The BJP leader also criticized the Congress Party, describing it as a \"parasite political party\" and asserting that the party had been reduced to seeking alliances with regional parties to remain relevant.\n\nBhattacharya dismissed the Congress as \"bedbugs, cockroaches and house lizards,\" referring to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leading protests against Kumar's retention as CEC. He also mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, suggesting that his attempt to join local fishermen in India signaled a failure to connect with the community.",
  "summary": "He alleged that more names could have been deleted from the voter list had the officials involved in the exercise",
  "key_points": [
    "Samik Bhattacharya seeks fresh Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal.",
    "91 lakh names deleted from electoral rolls during previous SIR.",
    "BJP victory in Bihar, Haryana, and Delhi attributed to prior SIR."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}