CM has right to raise concerns over SIR: Governor

Kolkata: Two days after Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to the CEC urging him to halt the “arbitrary and flawed” SIR in the state, Governor CV Ananda Bose on Monday said the CM has every right to express her apprehensions over a democratic process.

Responding to Banerjee’s concerns, Bose said such issues must be addressed appropriately.

The Chief Minister of any state has every right to express apprehensions on any process in a democracy. These apprehensions have to be addressed. I am sure the ECI, which is strong and balanced, will be able to find an answer to these in a satisfactory manner,” Bose told reporters here.

Sharpening her attack on the Election Commission, Banerjee urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to halt the “arbitrary and flawed” SIR in the state, warning that its continuation in the present form could trigger “mass disenfranchisement” and “strike at the foundations of democracy”.

In a strongly worded letter dated January 3, she accused the commission of presiding over an “unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc” process marked by “serious irregularities, procedural violations, and administrative lapses”.

The Governor also indicated that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state would continue as planned.

“The process will go on without any impediment,” Bose added.