A clarification issued by the Election Commission to polling personnel in Bengal on documents approved for verification of eligible voters emerged on Monday as the latest flashpoint between the poll panel and the ruling Trinamool over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls underway in Bengal. .
A letter to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) on Monday states that the Election Commission prescribed “any land/house allotment certificate by government as the indicative documents to be submitted during the hearings for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.”
The letter, sent to the Bengal CEO, added: “The financial assistance sanction letters issued under schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin, Indira Awas Yojana, Banglar Bari (Gramin) etc are not the documents as specified either in the order of the Supreme Court or in the SIR instructions.”
The confrontation between the Trinamool and the Election Commission has been going on for almost a year and has intensified as the Bengal Assembly polls are approaching.
“EC appears to have one set of rules governing SIR in other states and an entirely different standard for Bengal,” the Trinamool fumed in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “We hear BJP leaders sermonise about “one nation, one election.” What we are witnessing instead is their B-team in the Election Commission applying electoral rules selectively in Bengal, with the objective of maximising voter deletions.”
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool leaders have steadfastly accused the Election Commission of using a different set of parameters for evaluating voters in the state, including the creation of the “logical discrepancy” category.
After the Trinamool’s interjection, the Election Commission agreed to include the admit cards issued by the Madhyamik (Bengal education) boards as one of the documents.
“The SC, in its order February 9, 2026 clearly stated that “affected persons to whom notices have been served shall be entitled to rely on all or any of the documents referred to by the EC in the SIR notice, and all such documents, including those referred to by the EC in the SIR notice”. Yet in violation of the spirit of that order, and relying on technical vagueness, EC has now refused to accept financial assistance sanction letters issued under government housing schemes as valid documentation,” the Trinamool alleged.
The party reminded the central poll panel of the apex court’s observation regarding the role of the commission in India’s electoral democracy.
“The SC observed that as a constitutional body, it must function in a manner that upholds the trust of the electorate and ensures that every eligible voter is able to exercise their franchise, not create an atmosphere of fear and exclusion? The commission is constitutionally mandated to protect the people’s vote, not advance the political interests of any party. They are the Election Commission. Not an Election Omission,” the Trinamool wrote.
State minister Chandrima Bhattacharyasaid the central poll panel had no right to clarify on its own on any directive issued by the apex court.
“The clarification on the Supreme Court’s directive can come from the Supreme Court. The Constitution does not allowthe EC make its own interpretation of its orders,” the minister said.
The former Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asked how could the EC issue fresh instructions on documents to be considered after the hearings over special intensive revision have been concluded.
“The people have already submitted the documents that they had. These documents were included. Now that the process of the review of documents is on how can some documents be excluded?” asked Ghosh.
