The special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list has had little impact on the campaign in at least 25 Assembly constituencies in three Jungle Mahal districts because the number of electors whose names were deleted is negligible.
The BJP and the Trinamool Congress have been focusing more on other issues and not the SIR, unlike in the rest of Bengal, where mass deletions of names from the voter list dominate the Assembly election campaign.
The contrast is evident, as it is difficult to find graffiti — either by Trinamool or the BJP — on the SIR in the three districts of Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura. Instead, the graffiti is more colourful, often featuring rhymes mocking each other. In the Trinamool graffiti, the BJP is dubbed as an “outsider” and "anti-Bengali". The BJP graffiti, in most places, has been highlighting the lack of jobs, women’s safety and corruption.
Jhargram has four Assembly seats, while Bankura and Purulia have 12 and nine, respectively. In the 2021 Assembly polls, Trinamool won 15 of the cumulative seats in the three districts. BJP bagged 10 seats.
Trinamool's top leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have been throwing down the gauntlet to the BJP and the Election Commission from their rallies outside Jungle Mahal over the SIR. On the other hand, BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, have been vowing to prevent infiltration through the SIR.
However, people in the three Jungle Mahal districts have largely remained disengaged from the issue.
“Here, the SIR is not an issue. No one is interested in it, as the number of deletions is negligible. So, we are concentrating on other issues, instead of this vote-splitting narrative,” said Naren Mahata, the Jhargram rural block president of Trinamool.
“It may be an issue in other districts or places, but voters in our area are not interested in SIR. So, we are campaigning against the BJP over its false promises and telling people not to trust them for their promised dole, jobs, or anything else, as they will never work for Bengal, and most of those leaders are outsiders,” he added.
Jhargram district saw only 1,240 names deleted from the electoral roll. After the SIR process is over, Jhargram has 9,06,061 voters. A source said most of the 1,240 voters whose names were deleted were adivasis who lacked proper documents. As a result, political parties have shown little interest in campaigning on the deletions.
The situation is similar in Bankura and Purulia. After the adjudication process related to the SIR, Bankura has 29,05,093 voters, with only 6,533 names deleted from the electoral roll. In Purulia, 5,942 names were deleted, while the total number of electors stands at 22,31,352.
The three districts have very low Muslim populations. According to the 2011 census, Muslims constitute only 7.76 per cent of the population in Purulia and 8.08 per cent in Bankura. Jhargram has around two per cent Muslims.
Sources in the BJP said that countering issues such as the SIR had become a challenge for the party in several other constituencies across Bengal. "Voters whose names were deleted ask candidates whether they were not Indian. In some cases, those questions are embarrassing for the party,” said a BJP leader in Calcutta.
However, he added that in the three Jungle Mahal districts, the BJP received major relief from the SIR and the deletion issue. According to him, this may be one reason for the higher anti-incumbency in Purulia, Bankura and Jhargram.
Shankar Mahato, the Purulia district BJP president, said issues like migration to other states, closure of schools and the deterioration of government-funded education were far more important in the campaign.
“Purulia has hardly any villages where at least 20 youths have not left for jobs in other states,” he said.
Political observers believe that since the SIR is not an issue in those pockets, it may benefit the BJP rather than Trinamool in the elections, as anti-incumbency could be higher.
“Trinamool has been banking heavily on the SIR in the elections. They are urging people to vote for those who have allegedly lost their democratic rights, but that strategy has not been working here,” said political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty.
“So, in these areas, the BJP may benefit, as it is relatively free from the SIR issue and can instead focus on strong anti-incumbency sentiment against the Mamata Banerjee government,” he added.