Kolkata: Amid allegations of political vendetta by the Trinamool Congress, Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam has been summoned by the Election Commission for a hearing in connection with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. He has been asked to appear on January 19 at 11 am.
According to the Commission’s notice, discrepancies were found in the spelling of Islam’s name and his father’s name in the current voter list compared with the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR exercise in 2002.
The notice further stated that, based on the linkage shown in the enumeration form, his name appeared to have been incorrectly linked with the earlier SIR voter list. He has been directed to appear with relevant documents at Dunigram Abdul Karim High School in Birbhum district.
Reacting to the notice, the TMC alleged that the SIR process was being used as a political weapon and claimed that even sitting MPs were being “humiliated”. The party accused the BJP and the Election Commission of acting “hand-in-glove” and said a Rajya Sabha MP was being asked to prove his status as a voter and to “establish” his citizenship.
Referring to Islam’s role in the case of Sunali Khatun, a Bengali woman allegedly deported to Bangladesh and later brought back, a senior party leader said he was being targeted for defending Bengalis. The TMC described the SIR exercise as “shameless, broken and authoritarian” and alleged that it was intimidating ordinary citizens.
Islam said his family had been living in Dunigram since before Independence and that he would appear on the scheduled date. Dunigram in Rampurhat falls under the Hasan Assembly constituency, where he remains a registered voter.
Islam joined the TMC in 2023 and was later elected to the Rajya Sabha.