Fix glitches or halt arbitrary SIR: Didi in 4th letter to CEC
Times of India | 5 January 2026
Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee shot off a four-page letter to chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday calling upon him to either "rectify glitches" or halt the "unplanned, arbitrary and ad-hoc" Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bengal's electoral rolls. She also questioned the CEC on why Bengal was being "singled out" by the EC for "arbitrary and illegal" voter deletions. This was the CM's fourth letter to the CEC since the beginning of the SIR exercise in the state.
Listing the glitches, CM wrote: "Family register, which was extensively accepted as valid proof of identity during the SIR exercise in Bihar, is now reportedly being denied as a valid document through informal communication from the office of the chief electoral officer via WhatsApp message, without any formal notification or statutory order."
"Such selective and unexplained exclusion of a previously accepted document raises serious concerns of discrimination and arbitrariness," she added.
Banerjee alleged that it had been "informally communicated to all district election officers that permanent residence certificates/domicile certificates issued by various authorities of the state govt will not be accepted as proof of identity."
She said migrant workers who have moved to other states in search of livelihood were being compelled to appear for hearings, despite being fully eligible to be enrolled as electors, "which is in total contrast to the procedure followed in Bihar and other states".
The CM questioned why booth-level agents of political parties were not being allowed inside SIR hearings and the tendency of EC officials to issue instructions over WhatsApp or SMS.
"Critical instructions are being issued through informal channels," she said, adding, "No proper written notifications, circulars 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. Any error, ambiguity or uncertainty in this process can lead to serious discrepancies, including the potential disenfranchisement of genuine electors, an outcome that is wholly unacceptable in a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law," she said.
"There are also grave allegations regarding the backend deletion of electors through the misuse of IT systems, without following due process and without the knowledge or approval of the electoral registration officers (EROs), who are the competent statutory authorities under the Representation of the People Act," the CM wrote in her letter.
"This raises serious questions as to who has authorised such actions and under what legal authority. The EC must be held fully accountable for any illegal, arbitrary or biased actions carried out under its supervision or direction," she added.
Banerjee said that in the name of addressing "so-called logical discrepancies, such as spelling errors and age-related variations," EC has directed verification of documents, which is required to be carried out by issuing authorities. "This approach appears to be intended to delay the exercise, as such inter-district or inter-state verifications, in many cases, may not be possible to complete within the stipulated time," she added.
Calling the EC insensitive, CM said, "Electors are 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 20-25 kilometres to attend hearings, which have inexplicably been centralised rather than decentralised."
"Electors appearing for hearings are neither informed in advance about the documents required nor provided with any acknowledgment or receipt for documents submitted. In many cases, no proof of hearing is furnished. This complete lack of documentation creates uncertainty, enables arbitrariness, and opens the door to potential misuse, making it impossible to rule out biased or mala fide actions," she added.