West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote once again to the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging serious negligence and administrative irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This marks her fifth letter to the Election Commission on the issue, with the Chief Minister accusing the process of causing widespread harassment to ordinary citizens and leading to the removal of eligible voters’ names from the rolls.
In her three-page letter, Mamata described the procedure being followed under the SIR as “fundamentally flawed and unconstitutional.” She alleged that although voters are submitting required documents during hearings, no acknowledgment or receipt is being provided. Later, during verification, these documents are reportedly marked as “not found” or “not in the record,” resulting in the deletion of names from the voter list.
The Chief Minister warned that the absence of proof of submission has left voters at the mercy of administrative lapses, increasing the risk of large-scale disenfranchisement. She emphasised that the purpose of the SIR was to purify electoral rolls, not to exclude legitimate voters.
Questioning whether the Election Commission was disregarding its own statutory procedures, Mamata noted that over the past 23 years, lakhs of electors had submitted Form-8 along with valid government-issued documents. Following quasi-judicial hearings conducted by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs, these corrections were duly incorporated into the Electoral Roll-2025. She alleged that the Commission is now compelling voters to once again prove their identity and eligibility, despite having followed due process over two decades.
The letter further stated that individuals whose names already appear in the 2002 voter list are being issued hearing notices unnecessarily. According to Mamata, these voters are already linked to earlier rolls either directly or through inheritance, making fresh hearings redundant. She warned that this practice is creating confusion among the public and resentment towards field-level election workers.
The Chief Minister also strongly objected to the use of artificial intelligence for scanning and translating old electoral documents. She claimed that AI-based processing is introducing serious errors in critical details such as names, age, gender, and guardian information.
As a result, many genuine voters are reportedly being flagged for “logical discrepancies,” further complicating the revision process.
Concluding her letter, Mamata urged the Election Commission to intervene immediately. “I trust these issues will receive your immediate attention to not only end the harassment and agony of the citizens and the official machinery but also protect the democratic rights of citizens,” she wrote.
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