The Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began on Tuesday across nine states and three Union Territories, sparking political uproar in several regions. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led the Opposition charge, calling the exercise “silent, invisible rigging” during a rally in Kolkata, news agency PTI reported.

Apart from Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies have also opposed the EC’s move. On Monday, DMK approached the Supreme Court, terming the SIR “unconstitutional” and a “de facto NRC (National Register of Citizens)”.