West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote yet another letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, intensifying her criticism of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. This marks her fifth communication to the CEC since the exercise began, with Banerjee accusing the Election Commission of ignoring two decades of statutory corrections and forcing genuine voters to re-establish their identity.
The chief minister alleged that the revision process was causing widespread hardship and confusion, particularly due to errors introduced during the digitisation of old electoral data.
AI digitisation of 2002 rolls under scrutiny
At the heart of Banerjee’s complaint is the digitisation of the 2002 voters’ list using artificial intelligence tools. She claimed that serious errors crept into elector details during this process, resulting in large-scale data mismatches.
According to her letter, these errors have led to genuine voters being wrongly flagged for “logical discrepancies,” effectively placing the burden of proof back on citizens who had already undergone verification in earlier revisions. “Such an approach, disowning its own actions and mechanisms spanning more than two decades, is arbitrary, illogical and contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India,” Banerjee wrote.
‘Disowning its own statutory process’
Banerjee accused the Election Commission of disregarding corrections made through statutory and quasi-judicial processes over the last 20 years. She said electors who had earlier appeared for hearings and had their records corrected were now being compelled to submit documents all over again. Calling this a serious institutional failure, the chief minister said the EC appeared to be abandoning its own established mechanisms, undermining voter confidence in the electoral system.
No acknowledgement, flawed procedure
The West Bengal chief minister also flagged what she described as grave procedural lapses in the SIR exercise. One of her key allegations was that voters were not being given proper acknowledgements for documents submitted during the revision process. She termed the procedure “fundamentally flawed” and warned that the absence of documented proof could further marginalise genuine electors and lead to exclusion.
Raising concerns over the manner in which hearings are being conducted, Banerjee said the process had become “largely mechanical,” driven purely by technical data without adequate human judgment.
She argued that the exercise lacked sensitivity and application of mind, calling it “completely devoid of the human touch” required for a process that directly affects democratic participation. Such an approach, she said, strikes at “the bedrock of our democracy and constitutional framework.”
In her letter, Banerjee also highlighted what she called harassment of ordinary citizens, particularly women voters. She alleged that women who moved to their matrimonial homes and changed surnames after marriage were being summoned to hearings and asked to prove their identity.
“This reflects a complete lack of social sensitivity and constitutes a grave insult to women and genuine voters,” she wrote. She further said it was a “profound shame” that prominent personalities such as economist Amartya Sen, poet Joy Goswami and cricketer Mohammed Shami were allegedly asked to establish their credentials.
Earlier claims of deaths and mental distress
The latest letter comes just days after Banerjee made big allegations that the SIR exercise had already resulted in 77 deaths, four suicide attempts and several hospitalisations. She attributed these incidents to fear, intimidation and an excessive workload on field staff due to what she described as poor planning by the Election Commission.
She had earlier alleged that Booth Level Officers were under extreme stress, with confusion among voters compounding the pressure.
Reiterating her stand on Monday, Banerjee said she would approach the Supreme Court over what she termed the “inhumane treatment” of citizens during the SIR process. The revision drive, she claimed, has created anxiety among voters and severe strain on election workers across the state.
