In letter to CEC, Mamata says SIR turned into exercise to exclude voters rather than correct records

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been turned into an exercise to exclude voters rather than correct records.

In her letter, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of political bias and high-handedness during the exercise.

"The hearing process has become largely mechanical, driven purely by technical data and completely devoid of the application of mind, sensitivity and human touch," she said in the three-page letter.

She said the exercise's aim seemed "neither of correction nor of inclusion... but solely of deletion and of exclusion".

Banerjee claimed minor spelling or age discrepancies were leading to coercive hearings, harassment and loss of wages for ordinary people.

She also highlighted the plight of women who changed surnames after marriage, stating that they were being summoned to prove their identity, which she called a grave insult.

She also raised concerns about the selective targeting of "logical discrepancies" in certain constituencies, the use of a different portal in West Bengal, and backend changes causing confusion among officials.