The Congress, which had trained its guns on the BJP in Bihar over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, is now set to hold the Trinamool Congress to scrutiny in Bengal.

Both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress are constituents of the INDIA bloc.

Though the Congress has not literally raised its “Vote chor, gaddi chhodd (vote thieves, step down)” slogan against Trinamool, the state Congress leadership has clearly indicated that while the BJP has been trying to misuse the “specially designed” SIR, in Bengal, Trinamool has also put its best foot forward to manipulate the process by influencing the officials involved.

“We have observed that both the ruling dispensations — in the state (Bengal) and at the Centre — have been trying to influence the SIR process for their own benefit. Though the ruling party in the state has been vocal against SIR, in reality, they have been placing their own people in the electoral system to influence the process,” state Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar told reporters.

Later, he told The Telegraph that he could not deny that Trinamool was accused of looting votes, and the Congress would fight Trinamool if it was found trying to manipulate the SIR process.

“So, we want everyone — including common people and social organisations, apart from Trinamool and the BJP — to come together to ensure that not a single bona fide voter’s name is excluded from the electoral roll. We want a free, fair and fearless election this time,” Sarkar said.

Ghulam Ahmed Mir, the AICC general secretary and the party’s observer for Bengal, said the party would take up the SIR issue in Delhi and would welcome all anti-BJP parties, including Trinamool, for consensus. Asked if the Congress would work together with Trinamool in Bengal during the SIR, he said: “First, Mamata Banerjee should welcome our statement and demands regarding the SIR.”

A source in Trinamool said senior leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, believe that working with Congress in Bengal makes no sense as the party has a negligible organisational base.

Though the Congress or its ally, the Left Front, has no MLA in the Bengal Assembly, its leaders pointed out that the party had secured leads in 10 Assembly segments in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress SIR Committee, headed by economist Prasenjit Bose, has submitted its proposal before Bengal’s chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal, suggesting at least 16 changes to the Bihar SIR model — in the context of Bengal. One of their demands is accountability for poll officials found fudging the process.