SIR heat triggers mass exodus: Bangladeshi illegals seen queuing at border as voter list scrutiny tightens in West Bengal

Illegal immigrants are fleeing West Bengal after SIR
Illegal immigrants fleeing Bengal (Image via X/SudhanidhiB)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that it will conduct the second phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states, including West Bengal. The first phase of the SIR was held in Bihar, following which more than 68 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls.

In this phase of the SIR, the house-to-house enumeration will take place for a month from 4th November to 4th December, and the draft rolls will be published on 9th December .

Ever since this announcement, the situation on the India–Bangladesh border has changed drastically, especially in parts of West Bengal where a large number of illegal immigrants have been staying for years.

Viral videos show illegal Bangladeshi immigrants leaving India

After the announcement, several videos have surfaced on social media, showing illegal immigrants from Bangladesh roaming in groups near border checkposts in West Bengal. One of the most widely shared videos is from Hakimpur (Basirhat), where a long queue of people carrying bags and luggage can be seen walking towards the Bangladesh border.

According to DD News, many of these individuals had been living in India illegally for years, some for 10 years, others for 7, 5, or 2 years. Shockingly, some even had Aadhar cards and had managed to find regular work in India. Many were employed in brick kilns, while others worked as Rapido bike and taxi drivers, making it clear that they had blended into the local population.

The report also stated that these groups were mostly from areas in North 24 Parganas, where many Bangladeshi nationals have reportedly settled over time. With the SIR coming up, fear has spread among illegal immigrants who worry that stricter voter list checks and document verification will expose their identity.

Another video that went viral on Monday (17th November) showed around 300 Bangladeshi nationals waiting near the border to return home. In this clip, a journalist asked several people basic questions, and they openly admitted that they had been living in India without any documents.

One woman was asked, “You don’t have any documents?” She replied, “No.” When the journalist asked if she had been living here illegally, she said, “We used to work here,” and added that her home was in the Satkhira district of Bangladesh.

Another man said he was from Kalaroa Thana in Bangladesh. He revealed that he lived in Birati, near Kolkata Airport, but had no documents. When asked if he was staying illegally, he simply said, “Yes.”

A second woman also said she lived in Birati and confirmed that she had no papers and was staying illegally. These admissions on camera have only intensified public debate over how such a large number of undocumented people have been living and working in West Bengal.

“Vote bank is collapsing,” says Amit Malviya

BJP IT cell head, Amit Malviya, reacted sharply to the viral footage. Sharing one of the videos from Swarupnagar in North 24 Parganas, he wrote on X that Mamata Banerjee’s “carefully nurtured vote bank” is collapsing. He accused the West Bengal government of protecting illegal immigrants for political gains.

Malviya said that after the SIR announcement, there has been a visible spike in cross-border movement, and that residents themselves are recording and sharing these videos. “When the system becomes accountable, the ecosystem built on illegal votes begins to crumble,” he said, adding that these visuals reflect the real situation on the ground.

West Bengal has the highest number of illegal immigrants

The Trinamool Congress government has strongly opposed the SIR exercise in West Bengal, even seeking a formal “clarification” from the Chief Election Officer after reports that the state had indicated it was ready for SIR.

Mamata Banerjee fears that if SIR is conducted honestly, lakhs of fake voters and illegal immigrants with forged documents will be removed from the voter list. West Bengal has one of the highest numbers of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the country. In the last three years alone, 2,688 Bangladeshi nationals were caught and sent back.

The last SIR in West Bengal happened in 2002, and it formed the basis of the 2004 electoral roll. There are strong signs that the ECI will carry out a full SIR again this year, which would include verification of voters, removal of deceased persons, and identifying people enrolled through forged documents.

This is a regular responsibility of the Election Commission, yet the TMC has reacted sharply. Critics say the reason is simple, cleaning up the voter list may hurt the ruling party’s political calculations in a state where demographic changes directly affect election results.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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