A day after police complaints were lodged against the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal following the death of an elderly person reportedly linked to fear of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing, the Election Commission has refuted the claims, calling them intimidatory and baseless. Reacting to media reports on the complaints, the CEO of West Bengal stated that the allegations seemed like an effort to intimidate election officials carrying out their statutory duties. The Election Commission addressed the complaints, labeling them as premeditated, unsubstantiated, and an attempt to pressure officers involved in the SIR 2026 process.
The poll panel emphasized that such tactics aimed at threatening the election machinery and disrupting the process were bound to fail. The CEO of West Bengal affirmed that legal action would be taken to uncover the motives behind the complaints. The Election Commission’s statement stressed the commitment of the state’s election machinery to operate with integrity and adherence to the rule of law for the benefit of the public. The strong response from the Election Commission came in the wake of police complaints filed by the families of two elderly voters who passed away after receiving hearing notices as part of the ongoing SIR process.
In Purulia district, Kanai Majhi reported that his 82-year-old father, Durjan Majhi, was severely distressed upon receiving a hearing notice, as his name was present in the physical 2002 West Bengal SIR rolls but missing from the 2002 SIR list on the Election Commission’s website. Durjan Majhi tragically took his own life just before his scheduled hearing. Meanwhile, in Howrah district, the son of 64-year-old Jamat Ali Sheikh accused the Chief Election Commissioner and the state CEO of misusing their authority by sending a hearing notice to his father, a legitimate voter, causing mental anguish that allegedly led to his demise.
