In an unprecedented reshuffle of the state administrative list, West Bengal has transferred a massive number of civil servants, just ahead of a statewide SIR push by the Election Commission of India.
The list of transferred officials includes 10 district magistrates, 22 additional district magistrates, and 15 sub-divisional officers from the districts of North 24 Paraganas, South 24 Paraganas, East Midnapore, Jhargram, Cooch Behar, Murshidabad, Purulia, Darjeeling, Malda, and Birbhum.
This development comes in the wake of the pan-India roll out of the SIR process, the official announcement of which is expected this evening (27th October, 2025) as per multiple reports. According to ECI, the first phase of the exercise would be carried out in election-bound states and UTs of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry. The exercise is scheduled to be kicked-off soon after the announcement.
Source: eci.gov.in
What is SIR and how will it be implemented in West Bengal?
SIR or Special Intensive Revision is a voter identification process to ensure a fraud-free election and accurate voter validation. ECI had announced a nationwide SIR in June 2025, and after a brief legal battle in the Supreme Court, it has got a green light for implementation.
The process of SIR will start with Booth Level Officers going door-to-door in the state to fill out the enumeration form. Additionally, the officers will also gather enumeration forms and provide recommendations for each one.
This would be followed by determining the boundaries of the constituencies and rearranging the polling places as needed.
The next step of the process will be to draft and update the electoral rolls as per the enumeration forms. There is also a provision in the process for voters to register their claims and objections within a given time frame.
Once final judgement is reached based on the claims and the enumeration forms, the final electoral roll will be updated to the database.
Challenges of SIR in West Bengal
The SIR process in West Bengal has run into major political challenges with the ruling party in the state, TMC, opposing it vehemently.
In a scathing attack earlier this year, CM Mamata Banerjee has claimed the officers in the state were being threatened or had been operating under political influence. She had also asserted that tampering with the voter list would be a betrayal of democracy and accused BJP of “playing with fire”.
However, the Union Minister of Sukanta Majumdar has questioned the ‘jittery’ attitude of the CM questioning her motives.
Earlier, he had told the media, “The Special Intensive Revision will be carried out everywhere, in every state – ruled by the BJP and by the opposition parties. Why is the Trinamool Congress so jittery about SIR? What is Mamata Banerjee scared about?”
“None having valid documents of residing in India will be impacted. But, the infiltrators have to leave; they will be thrown out. Is the CM and her party taking the side of the infiltrators?” he had questioned the TMC-led government in West Bengal.