Bengal electoral roll revision: TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar alleges EC harassment as SIR hearings begin

Kolkata: On the first day of the hearing of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls from 294 Constituencies in Bengal, Trinamool Congress’ four-term MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar alleged that he was being harassed by the Election Commission as four of his family members, including his two sons and his 90-year-old mother, were summoned for the hearings.

Ghosh also claimed that his mother and sister, as well as his two sons, were also given notices for the hearing.

Ghosh said both his sons are government employees. “My husband, Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar, was a member of the West Bengal cabinet. I have been an MP for four terms since 2009. Despite this, my sons, sister and mother were summoned for the hearing. What is happening in the name of SIR is unimaginable. This is a practice of harassing people,” the MP said.
The MP’s 90-year-old mother, Ira Mitra, was also given a hearing notice.

Another Khandaghosh Trinamool MLA was also summoned for the hearing.

A total of 31 lakh mapless voters are being summoned for hearing from today. After the draft list is published on December 16, the Claim-Objection process will begin on December 17 and continue until January 16, 2026.
A senior EC official said the hearings were held at 3,234 desks spread across 294 Constituencies across the state and each Constituency had 11 desks for the hearing. A senior official said that there are a total of 11 Assembly Constituencies in Kolkata North and South and with 11 tables each, a total of 121 tables will be available. There will be 11 tables in each Constituency and this table is valid for 294 Assembly Constituencies.

The signatures, photographs and documents of the voters called to the hearing, as well as the Enumeration Forms, will be uploaded to EROnet. BLO, ERO, AERO and Micro Observers will be present at the hearings. They will monitor and review the hearing process.

The hearing in Kolkata North was held at the Jessop building. Apart from this, the hearing was held at Mitra Institute in Bhabanipur, Mominpur and various places in the city.