Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Election Commission of thrusting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) upon the Bengal electorate without proper planning and asked the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to stop the ongoing exercise.
“I am compelled to write to you as the situation surrounding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has reached a deeply alarming stage. The manner in which this exercise is being forced upon officials and citizens is not only unplanned and chaotic, but also dangerous,” Mamata wrote in a letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday.
Mamata cautioned the CEC that SIR if continued would have irreversible consequences.
“I would request you to kindly intervene decisively to halt the ongoing exercise, stop coercive measures, provide proper training and support, and thoroughly reassess the present methodology and timelines. This intervention is not only necessary but imperative to protect the integrity of the electoral process and our democratic framework," the CM wrote.
Writing to the CEC, Mamata talked about the toll the exercise is taking on the lives of the voters and poll workers.
“The human cost of this mismanagement is now unbearable,” Mamata wrote “Several others have lost their lives since this process began… a revision that earlier took three years is now being forced into three months. The impact is “inhuman.”
In her two-page letter Mamata said there is a complete breakdown of trust between the state government and the Commission.
She accused the Commission of running an exercise crippled “from day one” by “the absence of even basic preparedness, adequate planning or clear communication”.
The gaps, Mamata argued, are not minor flaws but structural cracks that threaten the accuracy of the voter list itself.
“Critical gaps in training, lack of clarity on mandatory documentation and the near-impossibility of meeting voters in the midst of their livelihood schedules have made the exercise structurally unsound.”
The Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’ Brien said the number of deaths in Bengal that could be linked to the SIR have reached 31, including Booth Level Officers.
One BLO in East Burdwan’s Kalna Namita Hansda died allegedly due to a stroke she suffered on the night of 8 November, brought on by relentless work during the on-going voter enumeration drive. Another BLO Shanti Muni Oraon, died by suicide in Jalpaiguri’s Malbazar on Wednesday.
In her letter to the CEC, Mamata said the BLOs are collapsing under a load the system cannot support.
“The unrealistic workload, impossible timelines, and inadequate support with online data entry have collectively placed the entire process — and its credibility — at severe risk. This strikes at the heart of our electoral democracy,” Mamata wrote. “BLOS are now operating far beyond human limits,” she wrote, forced to juggle their regular duties with complex digital procedures riddled with “server failures, and repeated data mismatches”.
The work pressure, Mamata claimed, is so intense that it is pushing some of the BLOs drawn from a pool of state employees into making errors that could cost citizens their vote.
“Many BLOS, under extreme pressure and fear of punitive action, are being pushed to submit incorrect or incomplete entries — risking disenfranchisement of genuine voters and eroding the integrity of the electoral roll.”
Mamata alleged that instead of fixing the process, the CEO’s office is tightening the screws on those already struggling.
“What is particularly unacceptable is the response from the Election Commission at this juncture… the office of CEO West Bengal has resorted to intimidation. Show-cause notices are being issued without justification.”
The timing of SIR, Mamata said, showed a complete disconnect from Bengal’s calendar. The state is in the middle of paddy harvest and Rabi sowing — the period when farmers and labourers work the longest hours of the year.
