Why is Bengal only state to face SIR ‘logical discrepancy’, asks Mamata
Times of India | 23 January 2026
Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday questioned why Bengal was the only state to face "logical discrepancy" in the ongoing SIR exercise. "It's happening only in Bengal, it does not exist in any other state," she said.
Banerjee was speaking at the inauguration of Kolkata Book Fair, where she released a collection of her poems on the pains of SIR. The CM said she wrote 26 poems on SIR harassment.
Banerjee used her own example to claim how the Election Commission's insistence on documents was not always practically feasible. "When I came to know of my date of birth, my father had passed away. I had cleared the Madhyamik examination. There was neither time nor any way to change it. I accepted what was there. You all understand that sometimes dates were recorded incorrectly. I am not going into details, otherwise the Election Commission will come after me and delete my name, though I do have my Madhyamik result and other documents as well," she said.
"If I write Mamata Banerjee in English and Mamata Bandopadhyay in Bengali, my name will be deleted. It's like Rabindranath Thakur and Rabindranath Tagore. Someone was asked how five children can have the same parents. ‘Hum Do, Hamare Do' is a new concept; it was not the case earlier. We don't even know when our parents were born. We were born at home," the CM added.
"Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee once told me that he was not born on Dec 25," Banerjee claimed.
The CM again criticised the EC decision to summon Bengal luminaries like Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and poet Joy Goswami in the name of "logical discrepancy".
"What could be more shameful than asking Amartya Sen about the age difference between his parents? Poet Joy Goswami was also summoned. I visited a clinic on Wednesday and all eight people working there have been summoned. They are trying to take away people's voting rights. Everyone should protest. If my neighbour is in trouble, I cannot live in peace. People like Amartya Sen and Joy Goswami touch everyone's lives," said Banerjee.
The CM said "earlier it was not the Election Commission but the people who decided who would come to office. Now, the commission is deciding in advance who will be brought in".
"One hundred and ten people died due to SIR. While enjoying this fair, we should also remember the ordeal of people who are standing in queues for more than five hours every day," she said. Banerjee, however, urged everyone getting SIR notices to attend the hearings. "If your name is not on the list, please go and seek help. You can even send someone on your authorisation," she added.
The CM recalled how she was insulted by central agencies for even her own paintings. "I did two exhibitions, for which I had to encounter the CBI despite the fact that I gave away the entire amount to NGOs and the govt to help poor people," she said.
Why is Bengal only state to face SIR ‘logical discrepancy', asks Mamata
CM Slams EC Hearing Notices To Amartya Sen, Joy Goswami
Dwaipayan Ghosh & Suman Chakraborti | tnn
496 words
Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday questioned why Bengal was the only state to face "logical discrepancy" in the ongoing SIR exercise. "It's happening only in Bengal, it does not exist in any other state," she said.
Banerjee was speaking at the inauguration of Kolkata Book Fair, where she released a collection of her poems on the pains of SIR. The CM said she wrote 26 poems on SIR harassment.
Banerjee used her own example to claim how the Election Commission's insistence on documents was not always practically feasible. "When I came to know of my date of birth, my father had passed away. I had cleared the Madhyamik examination. There was neither time nor any way to change it. I accepted what was there. You all understand that sometimes dates were recorded incorrectly. I am not going into details, otherwise the Election Commission will come after me and delete my name, though I do have my Madhyamik result and other documents as well," she said.
"If I write Mamata Banerjee in English and Mamata Bandopadhyay in Bengali, my name will be deleted. It's like Rabindranath Thakur and Rabindranath Tagore. Someone was asked how five children can have the same parents. ‘Hum Do, Hamare Do' is a new concept; it was not the case earlier. We don't even know when our parents were born. We were born at home," the CM added.
"Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee once told me that he was not born on Dec 25," Banerjee claimed.
The CM again criticised the EC decision to summon Bengal luminaries like Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and poet Joy Goswami in the name of "logical discrepancy".
"What could be more shameful than asking Amartya Sen about the age difference between his parents? Poet Joy Goswami was also summoned. I visited a clinic on Wednesday and all eight people working there have been summoned. They are trying to take away people's voting rights. Everyone should protest. If my neighbour is in trouble, I cannot live in peace. People like Amartya Sen and Joy Goswami touch everyone's lives," said Banerjee.
The CM said "earlier it was not the Election Commission but the people who decided who would come to office. Now, the commission is deciding in advance who will be brought in".
"One hundred and ten people died due to SIR. While enjoying this fair, we should also remember the ordeal of people who are standing in queues for more than five hours every day," she said. Banerjee, however, urged everyone getting SIR notices to attend the hearings. "If your name is not on the list, please go and seek help. You can even send someone on your authorisation," she added.
The CM recalled how she was insulted by central agencies for even her own paintings. "I did two exhibitions, for which I had to encounter the CBI despite the fact that I gave away the entire amount to NGOs and the govt to help poor people," she said.