Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of turning the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls into a tool of harassment, exclusion, and political bias rather than genuine correction.
In a strongly-worded letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday, Banerjee described the process as “insensitive, inhuman”, and lacking any human touch, despite being linked to the very foundation of democracy and the Constitution. She questioned, “Isn’t this open rebellion? What else is it?”
Highlighting the human cost, the Chief Minister claimed the exercise has already led to 77 deaths, 4 suicide attempts, and 17 hospitalisations, attributing these tragedies to fear, intimidation, and an unplanned, disproportionate workload.
Banerjee pointed to shocking instances of harassment faced even by eminent personalities, including Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen (over 90 years old), poet Joy Goswami, MP and actor Deepak Adhikari, cricketer Mohammad Shami, and a Maharaja from Bharat Sevashram Sangha, who were summoned to prove their identity. She also condemned the summoning of women voters who changed surnames after marriage, calling it a grave insult and a lack of social sensitivity towards half the population.
The TMC supremo further alleged that untrained observers and micro-observers are overstepping their roles, misbehaving with citizens, labelling them “traitors,” and selectively targeting “logical discrepancies” in certain constituencies with apparent political bias. She criticised the mechanical, technically driven approach, which prioritises deletion and exclusion over inclusion and correction.
This marks yet another letter from Banerjee to the ECI amid escalating tensions over the SIR, ahead of the crucial 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal, where the Opposition has defended the process as necessary to remove bogus entries.
The Chief Minister urged immediate corrective measures to minimise the agony among common citizens.