Mamata Urges ECI to Halt Bengal SIR Over Glitches, Warns of Disenfranchisement
Mamata Urges ECI to Halt Bengal SIR Over Glitches, Warns of Disenfranchisement
Mamata Banerjee urges the ECI to fix glitches or pause the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal, citing informality, faulty IT systems, and potential voter disenfranchisement.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written again to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging immediate action on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state. In the letter dated January 3, she asks the Election Commission to address glitches, rectify flaws, and, if needed, halt the exercise, warning that continuing in its present form could disenfranchise eligible voters and threaten democratic governance.
Banerjee describes the SIR as unplanned, chaotic, and unconstitutional, claiming that critical instructions arrive daily through informal channels such as WhatsApp messages rather than formal notifications. She argues that such informality undermines transparency, accountability and accuracy. The chief minister notes frequent inconsistency in IT systems, contradictory directions, and a lack of uniform training for officials tasked with the delicate responsibility.
In her letter, Banerjee highlights hardships faced by electors: hearings scheduled without clear reasons, and many voters, including the elderly and seriously ill, being asked to travel long distances for hearings. She also mentions the deaths of Booth Level Officers and an anganwadi worker in Jalpaiguri, linking these tragedies to the haste surrounding the SIR. She stresses that the exercise must be paused or corrected before irreparable damage is done to the electorate.
The Trinamool Congress points out that the ongoing roll revision is part of a broader process in 12 states and UTs, with Bihar having initiated a similar exercise last year. As of now, the Election Commission has not publicly responded to Banerjee’s latest appeal. The letter marks her third communication to the CEC on SIR since the project began, signaling a continuing clash over how best to update voter lists while safeguarding voters’ rights.
