CM Mamata Banerjee urges CEC to halt ‘arbitrary, flawed’ SIR in Bengal

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar citing various problems regarding Special Intensive Revision in the state. In her letter dated January 3, CM Banerjee alleged that Election Commission of India (ECI) officials were misusing IT systems and voters’ names were being deleted from the backend without proper authorization.

He questioned who approved such actions and under what legal authority and emphasized that the ECI must be held fully accountable for any illegal, arbitrary or biased activity carried out under its supervision. “There are also serious allegations of background deletion of voters without following due process and through misuse of information technology systems, without the knowledge or approval of the Electoral Registration Officers (EROS), the competent legal authorities under the Representation of the People Act. This raises serious questions as to who authorized such actions and under what legal authority. The ECI must be held fully accountable for any illegal, arbitrary or prejudicial actions taken under its supervision or direction,” the letter said. he said.

He also highlighted concerns about Family Register, widely accepted as a valid identity document, during the SIR exercise in Bihar. According to him, this proposal has now reportedly been rejected through unofficial WhatsApp communications from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, without any official notification or legal order. This selective and unexplained exclusion raises “serious concerns about discrimination and arbitrariness”, he said.

CM Mamata in her letter said, “It has also been submitted that the Family Register, which was widely accepted as a valid proof of identity during the implementation of SIR in Bihar, has been rejected as a valid document through an unofficial communication issued by the Chief Electoral Officer’s office via WhatsApp message, without any official notification or legal order to that effect. Such selective and inexplicable exclusion of a previously accepted document raises serious concerns of discrimination and arbitrariness.” he said.

As India’s democracy faces a decisive moment, Hon’ble CM Smt. @MamataOfficial stood out as its strongest advocate. In his scathing letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, he exposed disturbing biases and chaos in the SIR process:

• An alarming and inexplicable rush… pic.twitter.com/6MBHcEPhs8

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) January 4, 2026

CM Banerjee also criticized the ECI for lack of clarity on SIR’s objectives, procedures and timelines. He stated that the exercise was defined as time-bound, but there were no uniform or transparent rules.

(With inputs from ANI)