After backlash, ECI directs home verification for elderly, ailing, disabled voters during SIR hearing in West Bengal

Amid outrage among a section of the electorate over elderly and ailing voters being summoned for hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed officials not to call such electors — particularly those aged 85 years and above — for physical hearings.

In a notification issued on Monday, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer asked all District Magistrates to ensure that electors aged 85 years and above, as well as those ailing and persons with disabilities, are not required to appear in person. If notices have already been issued, officials have been instructed to contact the electors over the phone and carry out the verification at their residences.

Hearings for SIR began in West Bengal on December 27. Notices sent to a large number of elderly persons as well as persons with disabilities, had created anguish among the people.

Earlier this week, the ECI issued fresh instructions to district election officials (DEOs) in the State not to summon for hearings those who have been identified as ‘unmapped’ but whose names or ancestral connections are present in the 2002 voter list.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (December 30, 2025) questioned why booth-level agents (BLAs) were not allowed during the SIR hearing process. Protests erupted in different parts of the State over the demand to allow BLAs at the hearing centres. On Monday, the hearing was halted in Hooghly district’s Chinsurah after Trinamool Congress MLA Asit Majumdar objected to the exclusion of BLAs during the process.

Addressing a public gathering in Bankura, Ms. Banerjee said that the SIR was a huge “scam” being conducted with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). “They have allegedly used AI to delete 54 lakh names, falsely attributing these actions to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The ERO association has sent letters saying they did not carry out this work,” she said. Ms. Banerjee threatened to gherao the Election Commission office in Delhi if the names of legitimate voters are deleted during SIR in the State.