Bengal SIR: Controversies over summoning celebrities baseless, says ECI

The Election Commission of India clarified that hearing notices sent to celebrities and prominent figures in West Bengal, including Chandra Kumar Bose, Dev, and Mohammed Shami, were routine due to incomplete voter linkage details. Hearings continue until February 7 before Assembly poll dates are announced

Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday asserted that controversies over the summoning of celebrities and the who’s who for hearings on claims and objections on the draft voters’ list are baseless.

Recently, Chandra Kumar Bose, the grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, was summoned by the poll panel for the hearing. Chandra Kumar Bose was recently served a similar notice of hearing. As political controversies were sparked and questions were raised about why the grandnephew of Netaji would be summoned for a hearing, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, clarified, citing the reason for summoning Chandra Kumar Bose.

---

“The claim is misleading. The enumeration form clearly shows that the linkage column is left blank. He has, therefore, been called for a hearing like all the other similarly placed electors as per the notification of ECI,” the clarification statement from the CEO’s office read.

Earlier, political controversies started over similar hearing notices sent to actor-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member, Dipak Adhikari a.k.a. Dev, former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and former Mohun Bagan football club president Swapan Sadhan Bose, popularly known as Tutu Bose, his son, Srinjoy Bose, also a former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and also the general secretary of that iconic soccer club from Kolkata and Indian pacer, Mohammed Shami.

“In all these cases, too, the hearting notices were sent because enumeration forms clearly showed that the linkage columns were left blank. In each of these cases, the CEO’s office had to issue clarification notices. Had the persons concerned checked with the voters concerned on why they were served with hearing notices, such controversies would not have arisen,” sources in the CEO’s office said.

The deadline for submissions on claims and objections to the draft voters’ list is expiring on Monday. However, the hearing sessions will continue till February 7. Thereafter, the full bench of the Commission will visit West Bengal, and soon after that, the ECI is expected to announce the polling dates for the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal.