The Election Commission on Wednesday served a notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen in connection with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, seeking a hearing of the 92-year-old economist on January 16 at his residence, an official said.
With Sen currently abroad, the notice was served to a member of his family at Santiniketan in Bolpur, where his ancestral home is located, officials said. Sen’s cousin acknowledged receipt of the notice and said he would inform the academic about the development.
Addressing speculation about multiple notices, a senior official at the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) clarified, “There is only one notice served to Prof Sen. There were some logical discrepancies found in the enumeration form submitted by him, and for this reason, he has been asked to appear for a hearing. Since he is above 85 years, the BLO concerned will be visiting him at his residence for the hearing as per the EC rules.”
The official said the notice was generated during the SIR process on grounds of “logical discrepancy” after the age difference between Sen and his mother, as recorded in the enumeration form, was found to be less than 15 years.
The development triggered a political backlash, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) sharply criticising the Election Commission and the BJP. On Tuesday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that serving SIR notices to eminent personalities like Sen amounted to “insulting the people of Bengal”, a charge rejected by both the BJP and the poll body.
The TMC continued its attack on Wednesday, accusing the EC and the BJP of pursuing what it called “their Bangla-Birodhi (anti-Bengal) agenda of division and degradation”.
“A Nobel laureate should be above any suspicion, right? But what if he's a Bengali? Then he'll be slapped with hearing notices as if he were some common criminal,” the party posted on X following the handing over of the notice to Sen.
“Amartya Sen, whose groundbreaking works form the bedrock of modern economics, who has brought unparalleled glory to Bengal and the entire nation, and whose ideas are studied in universities across the world, has been issued a SIR hearing notice,” the party said.
The TMC further alleged that the SIR is a “cynical, shameful farce” carried out at the “behest of the BJP and the EC”.
“They will drag our icons through the mud, tarnish our pride, and stoop to any low if it serves their Bangla-Birodhi (anti-Bengal) agenda of division and degradation,” the party wrote on its social media handle.
Earlier, the Election Commission had clarified that minor technical discrepancies, including spelling errors in voters’ names, can be corrected administratively by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and do not affect a voter’s eligibility or rights.
