KOLKATA: The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday again accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of flouting Supreme Court directives on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, demanding immediate corrective measures to prevent voter disenfranchisement.
In a strongly worded letter dated January 27, 2026, to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, TMC MPs Dola Sen, Mahua Moitra, Partha Bhowmick, Bapi Haldar, and Birbaha Hansda highlighted “grave concerns regarding serious irregularities” in SIR implementation. The missive asserted that ground realities reflect “a disturbing departure from both the spirit and letter” of Supreme Court orders emphasizing transparency and barring voter harassment or arbitrary exclusion.
The TMC highlighted the alleged illegal supervision of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) by Micro-Observers, contravening ECI’s own Supreme Court submission on January 4.
“The role of the Micro-Observer is not to supersede the ERO, but to facilitate,” the EC had stated, yet District Electoral Officers have created independent Micro-Observer logins, allowing them veto power post-ERO decisions—a practice lacking statutory basis under Sections 13B and 14-23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Further allegations in the Trinamool Congress letter targeted handling of “Logical Discrepancy” cases. Despite EC counsel’s January 19 assurance that minor name mismatches would not trigger hearings, such voters—verified in 2002 rolls—are still summoned, with notices unwithdrawn.
The letter criticised unofficial communications like WhatsApp instructions, violating court-mandated transparency and traceability, and arbitrary ECI-Net portal changes, such as reclassifying “more than six progeny” to vague “multiple” without displaying mapped descendants, enabling “unchecked manipulation.” TMC also condemned rejection of government land/house allotment certificates as proof of residence, despite their inclusion in ECI’s admissible documents list. “This instruction is patently illegal… it discriminates against economically vulnerable households,” the letter states, and termed them as attempts to disenfranchise the poor.
