Mamata attacks ECI over voter list revision at Kolkata Book Fair

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, alleging public harassment and selective targeting, and called for a united protest while inaugurating the Kolkata International Book Fair

Kolkata: Even on the occasion of the inauguration of the Kolkata International Book Fair, 2026, on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state and called for a united movement by all sections of society against hearing notices served to celebrities, intellectuals and socially acclaimed persons.

“The SIR exercise is going on in West Bengal. Already, 110 persons in the state have died because of reasons directly or indirectly linked to the revision exercise. The ECI should have kept in mind the inconvenience to people because of the manner in which the revision exercise is being conducted. On an average, people have to stand for four to five hours in a queue during hearings on the claims and objections on the draft voters’ list,” the Chief Minister said in her inauguration address at the Book Fair, which started on Thursday.

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Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister also claimed that the concept of “logical discrepancy” was never there in the revision exercise in any state in the past. “This has been introduced only in the case of West Bengal. This is not happening in any other state,” the Chief Minister claimed.

According to her, the manner in which acclaimed persons like Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, poet Joy Goswami, and several other socially acclaimed persons were served with hearing notices was highly “uncertain”.

“Earlier, not the Commission, but the people used to decide who would be voted to power. Now the Commission is deciding who will vote. This cannot go on. Everyone should protest against this. Remember, one cannot remain silent if there is a fire at their neighbour’s house. So there should be a united movement against this,” the Chief Minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, she said that already 135 books penned by her have been published.

“I have many more to write in the coming days. One of them will surely be on the harassment of people in the name of SIR,” she claimed.