Chief minister Mamata Banerjee described the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bengal as “mechanical” and “completely devoid of the human touch.”
“The hearing process has become largely mechanical, driven purely by technical data and is completely devoid of the application of human mind, sensitivity and human touch that are indispensable for an exercise of this nature – one that directly forms the bedrock of our democracy and constitutional framework,” Mamata wrote in a letter to the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday.
In a three-page letter to the CEC, the Bengal chief minister said she was deeply shocked and disturbed by the manner in which the Election Commission appears to be ‘relentlessly harassing ordinary citizens during the ongoing SIR.
Mamata’s letter – fourth since November 20 last year – comes in the midst of the Trinamool’s raging battle with another central agency, the Enforcement Directorate.
Mamata alleged the process in which the SIR exercise was being carried out indicated political bias.
“All this reflects a disturbing pattern of political bias and autocratic high-handedness by an institution that is expected to functions as a constitutional authority. The EC appears to have descended to a level that is difficult to comprehend and deeply alarming for any democratic society,” Mamata wrote in her letter. “The objective seems neither of correction nor of inclusion in the electoral rolls, but solely of deletion and exclusion. This is unprecedented, deeply unfortunate and strikes at the very core of our democratic polity – one that thrives on the ideals and values enshrined in our Constitution.”
Even before the SIR process was rolled out in Bengal, Mamata had been vocal against it. In her letter to the CEC on January 3, the Bengal chief minister had described the SIR process as a “farce” that threatens to disenfranchise genuine voters.
Over the last few days, the chief minister has repeatedly flagged the issue of “logical discrepancies” which numbers to around 94 lakh voters.
“… so-called logical discrepancies are in reality entirely illogical, voters are being selectively targeted in some constituencies only with political bias,” Mamata wrote.
The names of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Trinamool MP Dev, cricketer Mohammad Shami, poet Joy Goswami have found mention in Mamata’s letter. All of them were served notices by the EC on logical discrepancies in the enumeration forms submitted by them.
“The so-called “logical discrepancy” numbers are increasing by the day. It has been reported that the portal being used for West Bengal is apparently different from that used in other states. The options initially provided for disposal of such cases are being altered from the backend in an erratic manner, causing serious confusion among the officials engaged in this work. This amounts to a deliberate and clandestine attempt to disenfranchise voters of the state,” she wrote.
Mamata said the voters were being harassed and summoned for hearings over minor spelling errors or age-related variations in the rolls detected through Artificial Intelligence.
“Do such trivial discrepancies justify coercive action that results in harassment, inconvenience and for many even losses of daily wages? Who will compensate?” Mamata asked.
