Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen will not be required to appear for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing, as the issue related to his voter record will be resolved at the Booth Level Officer (BLO) level. According to Election Commission sources, the hearing notice sent to Sen was the result of a spelling error in his name, which led to a mismatch in the computer system and triggered an automatically generated SIR notice.
The matter came to light amid the ongoing SIR process in West Bengal, under which voters are asked to appear for hearings if discrepancies are found in their enumeration forms. The process applies to all voters, including public figures.
Earlier this week, it was reported that SIR notices had been issued to Trinamool Congress (TMC) star MP and Tollywood actor Dev, as well as Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami. The issue escalated politically on Tuesday when TMC All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, speaking at a public meeting in Rampurhat, claimed that a similar notice had been sent to Amartya Sen.
Questioning the process, Banerjee said, “If a personality who has brought a Nobel Prize to the country is being harassed in this manner, then who will be spared?” He further alleged that the issuance of notices to prominent figures such as Dev and Shami was not coincidental and hinted at a “planned conspiracy.” Addressing party workers, he urged them to resist and defeat those allegedly misusing the process in the upcoming elections.
Election Commission sources, however, maintained that the notice to Sen was purely technical in nature. Upon being informed of the spelling discrepancy, the commission decided that the BLO would correct the error, eliminating the need for Sen to appear at a hearing.
The issue has also revived memories of a similar controversy during the SIR exercise in Bihar last year, when Sen had cautioned that if such initiatives were used to exclude people from electoral rolls, the consequences could be “extremely dangerous.”
A native of Santiniketan, Sen spends a significant part of the year abroad but remains an Indian citizen and regularly exercises his right to vote. Now in his nineties, the economist is known for his association with left-leaning ideology and for expressing strong views on social and political issues.
With the commission clarifying that the matter will be resolved administratively, officials have sought to play down the controversy, even as the SIR process continues to draw political scrutiny across the state.
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