West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that is currently underway in the state. By moving the apex court, Banerjee has escalated her confrontation with the election authorities over what she describes as serious procedural and humanitarian lapses in the revision exercise.
Banerjee has filed a writ petition in which she has made the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal respondents in the case. In her plea, submitted on January 28, she has questioned both the legality and the manner in which the SIR is being implemented, arguing that the process departs from established electoral laws and norms.
Separately, on Saturday evening, the Chief Minister wrote once again to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, reiterating her objections to the methodology and overall approach adopted during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls. Referring to her earlier letters, Banerjee said the exercise has caused widespread distress among citizens across the state.
In her communication, Banerjee alleged that the SIR process has resulted in “immense inconvenience and agony to the people” and claimed that as many as 140 deaths have occurred during the course of the exercise. She accused the Election Commission of imposing the revision in what she termed a “blatant violation” of the Representation of the People Act and the rules framed under it, while also showing “total disregard of human rights and basic humanitarian considerations.”
“I am again constrained to write to you regarding the methodology and approach, beyond the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the Rules framed thereunder, being followed in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal,” Banerjee stated in her letter, underscoring her continued opposition to the process.
The Chief Minister further pointed out that, for the first time in India’s electoral history, the Election Commission has deployed nearly 8,100 micro observers in West Bengal during the SIR exercise. She alleged that these micro observers are being engaged in a unilateral manner, without adequate training or proven expertise, despite the fact that electoral roll revision is a specialised, sensitive, and quasi-judicial exercise with serious implications for citizens’ voting rights.
Through both her legal challenge and repeated representations to the Election Commission, Banerjee has maintained that the ongoing SIR process undermines democratic principles, creates fear and confusion among voters, and requires urgent judicial scrutiny to prevent further harm to the electorate in West Bengal.
