The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Wednesday moved to calm a growing political storm after hearing summonses were issued to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami and Bengali actor-turned-TMC MP Dev as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The notices, which triggered sharp reactions and allegations of selective action, were described by the CEO’s office as routine and procedural.
According to the clarification, scrutiny of the enumeration forms submitted by the electors showed that mandatory linkage columns had been left blank, automatically triggering a hearing under Election Commission rules.
“Notices issued to these well-known personalities had sparked a controversy. According to the CEO's clarification, scrutiny of the enumeration forms revealed that the mandatory linkage columns had been left blank by the electors concerned.”
The CEO’s office stressed that the process was not limited to prominent names.
As per the Election Commission’s notification, such discrepancies lead to hearings by default, and the individuals concerned were summoned along with several other electors facing similar issues.
“The Enumeration Form clearly shows that the linkage columns have been left blank by the elector,” the state CEO's office said in a post on X.
In the case of Amartya Sen, the clarification provided specific details. The CEO’s office said that Sen’s enumeration form, submitted as an overseas elector, was received by a family member, Shantabhanu Sen, who linked him with his mother, Amita Sen.
“Since the age difference between the elector and his mother was less than 15 years, logical discrepancy was flagged by the ERO Net Portal,” the CEO's office said, adding that “notice was generated for Dr Amartya Sen in parity with the other discrepancy cases.”
Given Sen’s age, the officials followed an alternative route to complete the verification. “Since the elector is aged 85 years plus, ERO/AERO along with BLO have visited his residence and completed the formalities.”
The CEO’s office reiterated that the same procedure was applied across all cases and that the issuance of notices was in line with Election Commission norms.
It underlined that no special treatment or selective scrutiny was involved, pushing back against claims that the process had singled out public figures.
