Abhishek Banerjee Claims EC Sent SIR Notice to Amartya Sen

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday (January 6) accused the Election Commission (EC) of “targeting” citizens of West Bengal through the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) process, claiming that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been served a notice to appear for a hearing. However, the economist's friends and relatives whom The Wire reached out to denied receiving a notice.

“This is so sad. They have sent a notice to Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for India, enriched the country and made it more renowned on the world stage,” Banerjee said while addressing a rally at Rampurhat in Birbhum district.

Questioning the rationale behind the alleged notice to Sen, Banerjee said: “How can a person like Amartya Sen, who is the pride of the nation and has earned global respect, be called for a hearing?” He alleged that “in the name of the SIR, a BJP-EC nexus is targeting the people of Bengal.”

The EC has not issued any official response to Banerjee's claim regarding Sen. The Wire has reached out to relatives and close acquaintances of Sen in Bolpur, who have denied receiving any such notice. PTI cited an unnamed EC official as saying on Tuesday that Sen would not be required to appear for a hearing.

However, official electoral records accessed by The Wire show that Sen's name appears in the 2026 draft electoral roll as an overseas elector in Part No 274 of the Bolpur assembly constituency. His name does not figure in the 2002 electoral roll, though his mother, Amita Sen, was listed in Part No 124 of the same constituency that year.

According to procedures followed by the EC in West Bengal, electors whose names do not appear in the 2002 roll but have close blood relations, such as parents or grandparents, listed earlier may be verified through a process known as “progeny mapping”.

During this exercise, election officials have flagged several cases involving what they describe as “weird” or inconsistent family-tree data.

Officials familiar with the process said one major category involves voters aged 45 and above who applied for the retention of their names through progeny mapping instead of self-mapping, triggering further scrutiny and hearings. Sen, 92 now, was 69 in 2002.

Former West Bengal minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Kanti Ganguly has also received a hearing notice despite submitting all required citizenship documents to his booth-level officer within the stipulated time. Ganguly's name has been on the voters’ list since 2002, and he was an MLA and cabinet minister at the time.

“This could have happened, given the amount of work BLOs have to do. We should all cooperate. I wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar and the next day the local BLO called and said they’re embarrassed. The EC sent an official and things are resolved now,” Ganguly said.

TMC MP and actor Deepak Adhikari “Dev” has been summoned for an SIR hearing. Indian cricket team pacer Mohammed Shami and his brother Mohammed Kaif have also been asked to appear. Shami, born in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, is enrolled as a voter in Kolkata Municipal Corporation ward no 93 under the Rashbehari assembly constituency, and has been residing in Kolkata for several years.

The Wire has reached out to EC officials, including the state's chief electoral officer as well as the electoral registration officer and the booth-level officer concerned. This report will be updated once their responses are received.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.