Howrah, Jan. 27 -- Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI), along with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were conducting the National Register of Citizens (NRC) drive in the garb of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise while "harassing common people".

He further claimed that the ECI was conducting the SIR drive exclusively for West Bengal. The assembly polls in West Bengal are expected to be held in the first half of 2026.

"The responsibility of EC is to see an increase in votes, but for the first time, it is being seen that the EC and BJP, in the garb of SIR, are conducting NRC and harassing common people, and their aim is to cut more votes. Whereas their resp...