Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said the Opposition’s intent in raising questions about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is not to correct irregularities in the poll process, but largely to destabilise Indian democracy.
In an interview to HT, he said the Opposition’s bid was to discredit constitutional bodies, and discussed why the Mamata Banerjee government was ousted from West Bengal after 15 years in power. Edited excerpts:
What is the government’s response to the Opposition’s serious charges of irregularities against the election commission over the conduct of SIR?
The Opposition is frustrated with repeated loses in state after state. The Congress doesn’t believe in EVMs, which was introduced by them. They don’t believe in Parliament, in the Supreme Court when the verdict is not to their liking. They don’t believe in EC if the poll result is not to their liking.
But the Congress has still not been able to invalidate the process of SIR.
It won in Kerala, and supported the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) that won in Tamil Nadu. It has not explained how, if the SIR is so wrong, did the party win the elections. If the SIR was flawed, then why accept the result and the victory? They accept victories, but blame EC and the BJP for defeats.
They have made several allegations of irregularities against the CEC over how SIR is being done?
They filed a case in the Supreme Court. The judgment clearly upheld and validated the proceedings of SIR, which is not being held for the first time. Between 1951 and 2004, it was conducted eight times and the current cycle which started in 2025 is the ninth. Of these eight-and-a-half cycles have been conducted during their tenure. Under Rule 25(2) of Registration of Electors Rules, during SIR, the electoral roll is to be prepared afresh for the correction of electoral rolls and the purpose is to update the voter list.
The Congress’s aim is to shoot and scoot. EC asked them to submit a signed affidavit with the complaints so that the cases could be investigated. Rahul Gandhi or their BLAs (block level agents) never signed any affidavit. The President of India asked them to submit proof. They are yet to do that.
The dynasts in the Congress believe they have a right to rule. Since they are unable to win fair and square, they want to discredit institutions and push people to take to the streets for a regime change. Indian democracy is far too strong and people are way too mature to fall for these gimmicks.
You were the election-in-charge in West Bengal, where the BJP swept to power with a huge mandate for the first time. Almost 2.2 million people were disenfranchised in the state and filed petitions. Opposition leaders alleged that the exercise was rushed and opaque and targeted minorities and the marginalised.
It was the so-called INDI alliance that asked for SIR, alleging voter rolls had issues. EC acted promptly and ordered SIR. In some states they won; in most states we won. They couldn’t digest this and started alleging foul play. It all started with blaming EVMs. In West Bengal, SIR was conducted by EC and monitored by the Supreme Court. And it was the TMC that won the 13 seats where the maximum number of voters were deleted.
Mamata Banerjee lost because of a huge anti-incumbency wave and people had faith in the leadership of PM Narendra Modi ji to provide good governance.
What about the voters who were barred from voting after EC marked them for discrepancies?
During SIR, EC first publishes a draft roll. It is bound to issue a notice to anyone whose name is deleted. The reasons for deletion are death, migration, duplication, or wrong information. The appeals of those who were excluded are pending before the appellate tribunal created by SC. If people come forward to give their documents, I am sure EC will take corrective measures.
Economist Surjit Bhalla in an analysis of SIR in Bengal said the 2004 electoral rolls had 2.8 crore more names than the estimated adult population-- an excess of 4.4% and in 2014, the roll was 3.1% higher than the adult population. We did not allege any electoral fraud, or question EC.
The TMC appointed BLAs in every booth and government machinery was there, but where is their complaint? You participated in the exercise, used the state machinery in your favour, used muscle power and even then when you failed, you are blaming the Election Commission and SIR.
It is not correct that only the minorities were left out; many Hindus who should have been protected by the provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act were also excluded due to Mamata Banerji’s negligence.
The BJP believes every eligible citizen should be able to vote. EC is mandated to ensure every eligible citizen has the right to vote and to ensure the removal of those who aren’t. Our institutions must be empowered to discharge their duties, not discredited because someone did not get a poll result they desired.
What were the key factors for the TMC’s loss?
Mamata Banerjee lost the election because of arrogance, anti-incumbency, social unrest, and the politics of appeasement. If you fail in the eyes of the public because of your misgovernance, you cannot pin the blame on concocted reasons, especially those that imperil your Constitutional institutions.
The post-election scenario was intriguing. How did the 20 lawmakers reach out to the BJP and what were their concerns?
Mamata Banerjee lost the confidence of Bengal’s voters and her own party. The anti-incumbency was both within and outside of the party. She came to power in Bengal against the authoritarian rule of the Left. Over time, she became an authoritarian CM. People felt suffocated and so did the people in her party.
Adding to that the fact the TMC was not a party rooted in ideology, Mamata gave preference to family over senior party members. There was always disgruntlement in the party.
There is another set of assembly elections coming up. In UP, which is crucial for the BJP, the Opposition’s main planks are vote chori, chanda chori in Ayodhya and anti-incumbency.
The BJP is working hard on the ground, the organisational activities as decided by the national president, Nitin Nabin, are underway. The improved law and order situation in the state, the credibility of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the leadership of PM Modi are there for all to see. There is no impact of the Opposition’s attempts to create any narrative. What matters is how in the last 12 years governance has become the main poll plank.
Look at states such as Telangana where the Congress and Chhattisgarh where the JMM also announced social welfare schemes but corruption hampered delivery. The NDA, on the other hand, has been successful in the delivery of pro-poor schemes.
In the past 12 years, the BJP-led NDA government announced and successfully implemented pro-poor policies. In the second term, major reforms through legislative action such as the GST rollout, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Direct Benefit Transfer happened. In the third term there is a more proactive push for reforms, the PM has called it the “reform express”. So, this is the core of Indian politics now. The issues raised by the Opposition are just to discredit constitutional bodies, which are highly respected worldwide.