After Netaji’s nephew, Bengal Min asked to appear for SIR hearing

Kolkata: After Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose appeared for the SIR hearing on January 16 after being summoned by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the poll body has now asked the Bengal minister Tajmul Hossain to appear for a hearing under the SIR of electoral rolls.

According to sources, the notice for the hearing was sent to the three-time MLA Hossain because of discrepancies between his name and that of his father in the 2002 electoral roll. Hossain was asked to appear for the hearing at 10.30 am on January 29 with all relevant documents. ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui has also been summoned for an SIR hearing on January 27, sources said.

Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose, who had already appeared for SIR hearings, called the SIR of the electoral roll “sheer harassment”.

Bose claimed that he and his family members had submitted all the requisite documents along with their enumeration forms.

On Monday, he said that the ongoing electoral roll revision exercise was “important” but “not being conducted properly”. Bose, who had contested the 2016 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on BJP tickets, called the SIR of the electoral roll “sheer harassment” and claimed that it lacks clarity. “We were summoned for a hearing. The reason given was quite surprising, as poll officials said there was a problem with the linkage. I am not complaining because I was called for SIR, but the entire process is a hodgepodge without any clarity,” Bose alleged.

“First, they said my name could not be found in the 2002 voters’ list, and later they found my name. Now, after submitting the forms with all the valid documents, they claimed that there was a problem with the linkage. If it is a technical issue, who should be held responsible for that?” he asked.