The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has emerged as one of the most contentious issues between Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal. It is widely seen as a “politically motivated” exercise to weed out Muslim voters from the rolls.An estimated 30 per cent of the Muslim voters have consistently backed Mamata over her past three terms. Their support is likely to be a key factor in determining whether she wins a fourth consecutive term.The BJP, which now enjoys the status of the main opposition party, has never come to power in West Bengal. It is determined to stop the TMC’s uninterrupted dominance and pose as an alternative in a state that, according to it, is “longing for a change”.Thursday’s nine-hour gherao of Supreme Court-approved judicial officers by an unruly group of persons, many of whom have lost their voting right, was an indication of how volatile the SIR issue has become in the run-up to the Assembly elections.The judicial officers, some of whom also had children accompanying them, were not even given access to food or water. Their cars were surrounded by the mob who also pelted stones at the vehicles till the police finally rescued them.The Supreme Court admonished the West Bengal Government, saying the incident “exposes the complete failure of the civil and police administration of the state”.In the last Assembly elections of 2021, the TMC won eight of the 12 seats in the district, while the BJP won four seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the TMC won both the Malda seats.The Left and the Congress, which failed to win even a single seat in the last Assembly elections, have also jumped into the fray to rally their supporters on the SIR issue. Their aim is not only to regain political relevance, but also to prevent Mamata from becoming the sole champion of the Muslim community.Of the 7.8 crore voters in the state, more than 63.66 lakh people’s names have been removed from the voters’ list after the SIR exercise.BJP national spokesman Gaurav Bhatia alleged that though Mamata had taken an oath under the Indian Constitution, she was committed to protecting “Rohingyas” — a euphemism for illegal Muslim immigrants.The BJP claims that nearly 3 crore Muslims had illegally entered India, many of whom had settled in West Bengal and become a part of the TMC leader’s vote bank.Mamata claims more than 50 per cent of the voters deleted by the SIR are women and Muslims — her traditional vote bank.Responding to the Supreme Court’s criticism for her failure to protect the judicial officers in Malda, she has argued that since the key administrative and police officers in the state had been arbitrarily transferred by the Election Commission on the “diktats” of the BJP, she should not be held responsible for the incident.Some feel the harassment of the judicial officers and their children, highlighted in social media video clips and TV channels, may dent Mamata’s image. “There may be criticism of this in Kolkata and other urban centres among people who are already against her, but it will have no impact on the elections,” says Sudipta Sengupta, a political commentator.Others argue that turning the SIR into a major electoral plank will mobilise support for her beyond the Muslim and women supporters. “The SIR was politically loaded from the beginning. A leader who fights for a cause that also has implications for identity will be able to further consolidate her support base,” says Sabyasachi Basu Roy, former Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University.The Supreme Court has called for an explanation from the Chief Secretary, DGP and the Home Secretary, who have been appointed by the EC, on why they failed to rescue the judicial officers. The Supreme Court will decide on its next course of action after the NIA submits a report on the incident on April 6. The Malda episode, it seems, may not die down soon.