“The SIR process is deeply compromised and strikes at the basic structural framework of our democracy and the spirit of the Constitution,” West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said in her letter to the Chief Election Commissioner. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has fired a fresh letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar urging him to rectify glitches in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls or halt the exercise in the State.
“I strongly urge you to immediately address and rectify the glitches, address the flaws and make the necessary corrections, failing which this unplanned, arbitrary and adhoc exercise must be halted. If allowed to continue in its present form, it will result in irreparable damage, large-scale disenfranchisement of eligible voters, and a direct assault on the foundational principles of democratic governance,” Ms. Banerjee wrote in the letter dated January 3.
This is the Chief Minister’s third letter to Mr. Kumar since the start of the SIR. The previous letters were dated November 20, 2025, and December 2, 2025.
In the latest letter, Ms. Banerjee claimed that critical instructions were being issued almost on a daily basis, frequently through informal channels such as WhatsApp messages and text messages.
‘Informality and arbitrariness’
“No proper written notifications, circulation or statutory orders — mandatory for an exercise of such magnitude and constitutional significance — are being issued. Such informality and arbitrariness leave no scope for accuracy, transparency, or accountability,” Ms. Banerjee wrote.
In the first two letters, the Chief Minister had dubbed the SIR ‘unplanned, chaotic and unconstitutional’ and blamed the exercise for deaths of BLOs ( Booth Level Officers) and ordinary electors.
In the latest one, she said electors were being summoned for hearings without being informed of the specific reasons for such hearings, thereby subjecting them to needless anxiety and harassment.
“Even elderly, infirm, and seriously ill citizens are not being spared. Many electors are being compelled to travel distances of 20-25 kilometres to attend hearings, which have inexplicably been centralised rather than decentralised. This has caused severe hardship to ordinary citizens,” Ms. Banerjee wrote.
Ailing man dies after SIR hearing
Meanwhile, a 68-year-old ailing man who had appeared for the SIR hearing died in Kolkata. Nazitul Mollah, a resident of Joynagar in South 24 Parganas district, had appeared for an SIR hearing with a cannula inserted in his nose after he was discharged from a hospital. He passed away on Saturday night. The death resulted in a strong reaction from the Trinamool Congress leader.
In another development, an old man suffered a head injury while appearing for the SIR hearing in Tarakeswar, Hooghly, on Sunday. The incident triggered a ruckus at the hearing centre, the BDO office in Tarakeswar. Trinamool leaders and workers gathered in front of the office and started a protest. Bharat Chandra Samanta, a resident of Ward No. 10 of Tarakeswar municipality fell while getting off a three-wheeler and sustained a head injury.
This incident too evoked strong criticism of SIR hearings from the Trinamool Congress. The ruling party in the State had objected to ailing and elderly people being called for the SIR hearings. The hearings started in West Bengal on December 27, and notices of the hearings have been sent to a lot of elderly persons as well as persons with disabilities, which has created anguish among these groups of people. A notification sent by Additional Chief Electoral Officer to all District Magistrates on December 29 stated that such persons who had been issued notices may be contacted over phone and asked not to attend the hearing, and the verification may be done at their residences.
ECI seeks action taken report on harassment of ERO
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) by 5 p.m. on Tuesday (January 6, 2025) from West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar over harassment of Electoral Roll Observer C. Murugan. The vehicle of the IAS officer was surrounded and attacked by local people in South 24 Parganas, where he was on a visit to supervise the SIR exercise.
“What a shameful display of “Law & Order” under Mamata Banerjee’s dictatorship. The ECI calls it “serious lapses”, we call it TREASON against Democracy,” Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari wrote on social media.
Published – January 04, 2026 07:15 pm IST