KOLKATA: From octogenarians and pregnant women to celebrities, people from all walks of life are being called for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing process in West Bengal.
After acclaimed poet Joy Goswami and Bengali actor Anirban Bhattacharya, superstar Bengali actor and three-time TMC MP Dev has now been summoned for the SIR hearing. Three members of his family have also received hearing notices.
That’s not all. Ace Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami and his brother have also been served hearing notices. However, Shami was out of Kolkata on a cricket assignment on Monday and could not attend the hearing. A new date will be communicated to the cricketer soon. Though Shami was born in Uttar Pradesh, he shifted to West Bengal long ago to pursue his cricketing career.
Dev was born in Midnapore in West Bengal, but his family moved to Mumbai soon after. They later returned to Bengal when Dev began his journey in Tollywood. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said people are being harassed every day for SIR. “Dev is a three-time MP. I don’t see anything but pure harassment in this case,” he said.
Other Bengali actors, including Kaushik Banerjee and Laboni Sarkar, were also summoned for the SIR hearing. “We didn’t have any issues with the process. The officials were cooperative,” Sarkar said.
Earlier, in Murshidabad, a pregnant woman was reportedly summoned to attend a hearing on the very day she was due to give birth, while a paralysed, bedridden elderly voter was also called in person, where local TMC leader arranged ambulance transport.
In Barasat, a seriously ill elderly man was made to attend his hearing lying inside an ambulance. Most recently, in South 24-Parganas’ Jaynagar, 68-year-old Najitul Molla died shortly after attending an SIR hearing while on oxygen support, with his family alleging that the mental stress and physical strain of the process aggravated his condition.
These incidents have intensified criticism of the Election Commission’s handling of the exercise, with the Trinamool Congress accusing it of insensitivity and harassment.