The Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office in an email to The Telegraph Online on Wednesday said that the report on family members of the Trinamool’s Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar being called for hearings as part of the process of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls was “misleading”.

“I am writing to formally bring to your attention in the misleading report titled

"Trinamool MP's family members among 32 lakh voters summoned in Bengal SIR

hearings" published on 27.12.2025 in your online Edition,” the email, signed by the additional chief electoral officer, West Bengal, said.

“On checking the two Enumeration Forms submitted by the concerned Trinamool

MP's family members, it is found that the said forms were duly submitted in accordance with

the prescribed procedure and without any irregularity. The implication in the report

suggesting otherwise is therefore incorrect and unfounded.

“The publication of these unverified claims has led to unnecessary public confusion,” it continued.

“As a responsible news organisation, accuracy and verification of facts are essential to

maintain journalistic integrity. I, therefore, request you to kindly publish this rejoinder in your next edition with due prominence, so as to place the correct facts on record for the benefit of your readers,” it added.

The Telegraph Online would like to clarify that there was no implication in the report, which merely stated facts.

An upset Ghosh Dastidar had told media on 27 December that she, her mother and sisters were voters in the same booth in Madhyamgram, part of the Barasat Lok Sabha constituency, while her two sons are voters in Calcutta and they had been called for SIR hearings.

On the same day at 8pm, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the CEO West Bengal’s office had also said in a post on its official X (Twitter) handle that the MP’s kin had been summoned:

“The claim is misleading. The Enumeration forms clearly shows that there is no linkage. So they are called for hearing as per relevant provisions of the notification,” the post had said, with the screenshot of a news item from another news publication.

The post is reproduced below:

The Telegraph Online had on Saturday 27 December reported – without any “implication suggesting otherwise” – on the summons to the mother, sister and two sons of the Barasat MP.

The same was widely reported by other publications and shown on news TV channels as well.

Ghosh Dastidar could not be immediately contacted but if and when she responds to The Telegraph Online, this report will be updated.