‘Sheer audacity on the part of ECI': CM Mamata slams ECI for “Unplanned” SIR Process
She further claimed that common citizens are being branded as “Desh Drohi” by some observers and subjected to verbal abuse...
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has levelled serious allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state, citing dozens of deaths, suicides, and what she described as inhuman treatment of ordinary citizens as well as prominent personalities who were allegedly asked to establish their credentials before ECI officials.
In a letter dated January 10, addressed to Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar, Mamata Banerjee wrote, “I am deeply shocked and disturbed by the manner in which the Election Commission of India (ECI) appears to be relentlessly harassing ordinary citizens during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).”
The Chief Minister alleged that the hearing process has become largely mechanical, driven “purely by technical data.” She added that the process is completely devoid of “the application of mind, sensitivity and human touch that are indispensable for an exercise of this nature—one that directly forms the bedrock of our democracy and constitutional framework.”
Expressing shock, Mamata Banerjee said that so far 77 deaths have occurred, along with four suicide attempts and 17 persons falling sick and requiring hospitalisation, which she attributed to fear, intimidation, and a disproportionate workload arising from what she termed an “unplanned exercise undertaken by ECI.”
Calling it a matter of profound shame, the Chief Minister highlighted that Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen, a nonagenarian and globally respected intellectual, had been asked to appear before ECI officials to establish his credentials.
She further said that poet and awardee Joy Goswami, popular film actor and Member of Parliament Deepak Adhikari, international cricketer Mohammed Shami, and the Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram Sangha have also been subjected to what she described as an “unplanned, insensitive and inhuman process.”
“Does this not amount to sheer audacity on the part of the ECI?” she questioned, adding that “There are many more who have been put to such undue harassment.”
The Chief Minister further highlighted that women electors who have shifted to their matrimonial homes and changed their surnames after marriage are being questioned and summoned for hearings to prove their identity, calling it a lack of “social sensitivity” and a “grave insult to women and genuine voters.”
“Is this how a constitutional authority treats half of the electorate?” Mamata Banerjee questioned.
She also alleged that observers and micro-observers are being “unilaterally engaged without adequate training or expertise for such a specialised and sensitive exercise,” adding, “Many of them are acting beyond their mandate and expected standards of civility.”
She further claimed that common citizens are being branded as “Desh Drohi” by some observers and subjected to verbal abuse without any provocation.
Raising concerns over security arrangements, she said, “The ECI expects the State to provide security to these so-called observers, at a time when the State police is already heavily deployed for the Gangasagar Mela, and its primary duty is to protect ordinary citizens—not to shield the so-called observers.”
The Chief Minister also accused the ECI of making deliberate attempts to disenfranchise eligible voters in the state.
“Citizens are being harassed and summoned for hearings merely due to minor spelling or age-related variations in the roll detected through AI applications: For instance, a name may appear as "Mamta" in one document and "Mamata" in another; middle name "Kumar" may inadvertently be recorded as "Komar" or "Kumer". Similarly, as in records age difference between son/daughter with father/mother may be 18 or 19 years,” she added.
Questioning the justification for such actions, she asked whether these discrepancies warrant alleged coercive measures that result in harassment, inconvenience, and, for many, loss of daily wages.
“Who will compensate citizens for the hardship caused by such tyrannical actions of the ECI?” she questioned.
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