Abhishek attacks ECI over notices to Amartya Sen, Shami & Dev
The Statesman | 7 January 2026
Trinamul Congress (TMC) All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for issuing notices under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, cricketer Mohammed Shami and popular Tollywood actor and MP Dev, calling it a matter of “serious concern”.
Addressing a public meeting at Rampurhat, Banerjee said that Amartya Sen, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in economics and a former student of Visva-Bharati, had been served a notice for a hearing under Phase II of the SIR.
“Amartya Sen is not only the pride of Bengal but of the entire country. He has also been conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. It is a matter of shame that even he has not been spared,” Banerjee said.
Without naming him directly, Banerjee said he had learnt that the popular Tollywood actor as well as Mohammed Shami, “the man who helped India win the Cricket World Cup”, had also been served notices. “What is going on in Bengal in the name of SIR?” he asked.
Banerjee recalled that Amartya Sen resides at Pratichi in Santiniketan, his ancestral home, and had earlier faced controversies with the then Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University, Bidyut Chakraborty, over alleged land encroachment. He said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had personally visited Sen’s residence at the time, handed over relevant documents and provided him Z-category security.
Accusing the ECI of attempting to “unmap” eminent personalities and ordinary citizens alike, Banerjee said people would respond in the next Assembly elections. “I announce that in the forthcoming Assembly polls, the TMC will sweep all 11 Assembly seats in Birbhum district. BJP leaders here are facing multiple corruption charges, have amassed huge assets and some are even facing criminal cases,” the Diamond Harbour MP claimed.
Banerjee also alleged that the Centre and the BJP, through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), conspired to prevent his helicopter from flying from Behala Flying Club in Kolkata to Rampurhat.
“Out of fear of our political programmes across the state, the BJP has resorted to such conspiracies even though elections are still a few months away. The more you try to stop me, the more I will intensify my fight. Despite being nearly two hours late, you could not stop me from addressing this massive rally,” he said.
“In BJP-ruled states, migrant workers are being attacked for speaking Bengali. The people of Bengal speak Bengali and are not Bangladeshis,” he said, also criticising Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his remarks against Bengali-speaking people.
Earlier, Birbhum TMC district core committee convenor Anubrata Mondal presented mementoes to Abhishek upon his arrival on the dais.
Banerjee asserted that neither Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nor he would bow to pressure from the ECI in the name of the SIR. “We have presented our 15-year report card and challenge the central government to release theirs. Despite the Centre withholding the state’s dues and creating a financial crisis, the state government continues to run popular social welfare schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar, Sashthi Sathi and Banglar Bari,” he said.