SIR, raids, rallies: West Bengal's election battle starts early

As West Bengal gears up for the pivotal 2026 assembly elections, the air is thick with political tension. The electoral rolls are seeing a targeted revision, setting the stage for a fierce showdown. Major players like the Trinamool Congress and the BJP are hitting the ground running with their campaigns.

The year 2026 is set to unravel the most defining political phase for poll-bound West Bengal, which is undergoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and is set to go to polls with a "clean" electoral roll. Though the official announcement is scheduled after publication of the final electoral rolls on February 14, the poll bugle has already been blown.

PARTIES BEGIN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS AND OUTREACH

The parties have started poll preparations with the ruling Trinamool Congress and Opposition BJP having already kicked off voter outreach and campaigns. However, the year started with Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids, which reached a political flashpoint between the Centre and state government. Just months ahead of the 2026 assembly polls in Bengal, the ED on January 8 conducted marathon raids at the main office of I-PAC, a political consulting firm handling the election strategy of the Trinamool Congress since 2019.

The ED raid was conducted at the Salt Lake I-PAC office and residence of its director Pratik Jain in connection with an alleged multi-crore coal scam. On the same day, another ED team visited the residence of a businessman in Posta of Burrabazar area in north Kolkata in connection with the same case.

The ED also conducted raids on six premises in West Bengal and four premises in New Delhi on January 8 under sections of the PMLA.

Agencies Trinamool Congress kicked off its poll campaign with supremo Mamata Banerjee hitting the streets against ED raids. Party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also started full-fledged public rallies from January 2. He is set to address 26 public rallies over the next 19 days across the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi already addressed a public rally in December and in the run-up to the polls, will visit Bengal several times in the coming months, even as Union home minister Amit Shah, reached Bengal at the end of 2025 to chalk out poll strategies as he held multi-level party meetings.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, which came to power in 2011 after ousting the 34-year-old Left regime, is targeting a higher number of seats and vote percentage this time, despite anti-incumbency. Trinamool, after almost a 15 year-rule, is facing anti-incumbency amid allegations of multi crore cash-for-job-scam, ration scam, etc. However, the party is upbeat about its social welfare schemes and developmental work, specially oriented towards the girl child and women.

Sir, Bengali Asmita

From MGNREGA (recently renamed as VB-G RAM G) to PM Awas Yojana, stoppage of funds to the state and mistreatment of Bengal migrants across the country, the Trinamool leadership is picking up every issue to use against BJP during its public rallies and social media war. However, the SIR attack, logical discrepancies, and how the BJP is trying to deprive voters from their democratic rights, clubbing the ECI and BJP together, how common people are harassed while standing in long queues for SIR hearings- remains central to the party's campaign theme.

The Trinamool Congress leadership has also upped its ante against the logical discrepancy during the SIR exercise as 1.36 crore people are under the ECI scanner. The number is down to 95 lakhs as of now.

Agencies Trinamool Congress' Abhishek Banerjee has claimed that after SIR, Trinamool Congress' seats will increase. Bengali 'asmita' and identity politics, torture on Bengali-speaking migrants and preservation of Bengal's language, history, culture and heritage, role of Bengal in Indian freedom movement, along with Bengali poets and icons-Bankim Chandra Chatterjee to Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to Swami Vivekananda- have been the main themes of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's speeches all through from mid-August. She has also added the SIR, NRC and detention camp concerns as well in her campaign narrative.

In an all-out attack against SIR, Trinamool campaigns are moving from one district to another, with Abhishek Banerjee's special campaign moving across Bengal. From Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district, the Diamond Harbour MP has taken it to Alipurduar in North Bengal, followed by Birbhum, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda.

Alongside, Trinamool Congress has already kicked off the outreach campaign, 'Abar Jitbe Bangla' (Bengal will be victorious again) through public rallies. On January 2, the first public rally in Baruipur, was started under the name 'Rana Sankalpa Sabha' (War-promise rally) as opposed to 'Parivartan Sankalp Sabhas' by the BJP.

Trinamool has already combined the on-ground campaigns with social media outreach ('Jotoi Koro Hamla, Abar Jitbe Bangla'), on its X handle, Insta reels and a combination of short videos and reels that are flooding all social media platforms, besides animated reels.

The party is wholly geared up with its poll strategy, with a combination of issues-starting from anti-SIR and anti-ECI stand, preservation of the rights of genuine voters to anti-Bengali stance of the BJP, kindling Bengali Asmita and migrant issue and conspiracy of Modi-Shah and Suvendu Adhikari finding place on social media platforms.

Appeasement vs Soft Hindutva

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's focal strategy is recalibrating her stance, visibly shifting from "minority appeasement" to wooing Hindu vote. Banerjee is clearly in a temple-run phase. After inaugurating a 213-foot Jagannath temple in April 2025, Banerjee laid the foundation stone of a Durga Angan, a dedicated Durga temple in December, and will also lay the foundation stone of Mahakal temple in Siliguri.

Putting up a "secular" image, Banerjee has started deliberating that though she is blamed for "minority appeasement," her strategy is evident, ranging from temple inaugurations to attending Eid and Christmas celebrations, reflecting the Trinamool's effort to project inclusivity.

The Trinamool counters allegations of "soft Hindutva" or "minority appeasement," insisting it remains secular and believes in inclusivity of all religions. However, building new temples, increasing grants for Durga Puja committees, visiting Ganga Sagar mela, renovation of major temples across the state - all have an eye on wooing possibly estranged Hindu vote bank to counter the BJP's influence in the political landscape of Bengal, where identity politics plays a major role.

BJP banks on Infiltration, hindu consolidation

For BJP, the Bengal polls will be fought on infiltration and Hindu vote consolidation. Union home minister Shah, on his last visit to the state, had said that the West Bengal polls will be fought to stop infiltration, not only in Bengal but also in other states for the safety and security of the country. Shah held multi-level strategy meetings with the party's core group, including MPs, MLAs, RSS and all booth-level workers under Kolkata Municipal Corporation areas.

The BJP central leadership has attacked the Trinamool on corruption, "syndicate raj", a series of "scams" and SSC issue. Shah has clearly stated that the party will win two third majority in the polls and form "Sonar Bangla." Though the party has dwindling organisational constraints, except in districts like East Midnapore, which is a stronghold of Leader of Opposition in state assembly Suvendu Adhikari, and North Bengal, which has strong BJP vote bank, the BJP may have opportunities to get a foothold in city assemblies, which are traditionally won by the Trinamool Congress.

With the SIR exercise and huge deletion of ASDD voters in assemblies like Chowringhee, Rashbehari, Ballygunge, Kashipur-Belgachia and Jorasanko, there is a possibility that some city seats may tilt towards the BJP. These seats were won with a very low margin amid Covid's second wave by Trinamool in 2021, with almost no campaign.

Agencies Special intensive Revision in west bengal

Among the two significant events in 2026 in Bengal -SIR and assembly polls - are somewhat interconnected. SIR has already witnessed 58 lakh name deletions while another 95 lakh names under logical discrepancies, identified by ECI, are already under scanner, and the affected may be called for a hearing. Already 31 lakh "unmapped electors" are being called for hearings. The hearing process started on December 27. These 95 lakh names with logical discrepancies, who are being sent hearing notices by the ECI, are a headache for Trinamool Congress, while deletion of 58 lakhs names could benefit BJP, as the electoral rolls will be devoid of absent, shifted dead and duplicate voters.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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