NEW DELHI, Jan 5: The Actor-turned-Trinamool Congress MP Dev and the well-known cricketer Mohammad Shami have been called for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearings in Kolkata.
The TMC leaders have criticised the hearing notice sent to the two people and their family members. “This is another example of unpreparedness and absolutely inappropriate procedure of SIR enforcement. In the hurried implementation of the SIR process, the Election Commission has lost its credibility of being an impartial body,” Jay Prakash Majumdar, State Vice President & Spokesperson of TMC said.
According to reports, three members of Deepak Adhikari’s (Dev) family have also received hearing notices and Shami and his brother have also been called for a hearing. Shami’s hearing date was Monday which he could not attend due to a prior commitment to a cricket tournament.
According to Election Commission officials of West Bengal, a new date for his hearing will be set soon. The date for Mr Dev’s hearing has not been confirmed. Mr Dev is a three-time MP from West Bengal’s Ghatal which is also his birthplace, although their family shifted to Mumbai due to work. Later the TMC MP settled in Kolkata due to his work in the Bengali film industry.
On the other hand, Shami was born in Uttar Pradesh but permanently shifted to West Bengal a long time ago due to his cricket career. He has been a long-term voter in the Jadavpur constituency area in Kolkata. No official comments have been made by Shami or Mr Dev.
Many other important public figures from West Bengal have also been called for SIR hearings including veteran poet Joy Goswami, actor Anirban Bhattacharya, while others from the film industry have also gotten SIR hearing notices.
The TMC leadership earlier had come down heavily on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP-led central government for the harassment of people, as multiple public figures across the State get SIR hearing notices. The TMC had also demanded that Booth Level Agents (BLA) be allowed inside during the SIR-related hearings happening in West Bengal for the last few days.
Trinamool MLA Asit Majumdar stopped hearings at Chinsurah over the issue. “They will not let BLAs stay in hearings, but they are not giving it in writing, that is why I stopped the hearing,” Mr Majumdar said. He said the BLAs should be present in the hearing process so they can make note of why voters were removed from the list and maintain transparency in the process.
However, the hearings at Chinsurah resumed later in the day, though no resolution was reached over the inclusion of BLAs. Like Chinsurah, a similar situation unfolded in Bardhaman, where Trinamool workers and BLAs held protests at the Sub-Divisional Officer’s office and asked to be included in the hearing. Similar instances were reported from places like Magrahath, and Medinipur where Trinamool workers demanded to be included in the hearing process.
“The Election Commission should file an FIR against him (Asit Majumdar). They should also provide central force in places where they [Trinamool] are interfering,” Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said from a public meeting in Nandigram.
Meanwhile, many people at hearings have complained about long wait in queues as they struggle with old age, severe health issues, and disabilities. The Trinamool leadership has raised this issue with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, and a five-member delegation from the party filed a deputation on Monday.
“They are calling 93-year-old people for hearings. Why is this harassment against senior citizens? Don’t they deserve respect and dignity? Why are their health conditions not being considered?” Minister Partha Bhowmick said after coming out of the CEO’s office. In their letter to the CEO, they also questioned that if the EC can start a facility for door-step voting for people above the age of 85 and persons with disabilities, then why the same offer was not being given to these people during SIR hearings.
(Manas Dasgupta)
