NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, criticizing the “procedural violations” and “administrative lapses” in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which is currently under way in the poll-bound state.Mamata Banerjee called the exercise “unplanned, arbitrary and adhoc” and urged the poll body chief to stop the SIR if glitches remain unattainted.“I am once again constrained to write to you in order to place on record my grave concern regarding the serious irregularities, procedural violations, and administrative lapses being witnessed during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal,” she wrote in a letter. She also expressed apprehension about the large-scale disenfranchisement of eligible voters, which she said would be a “direct assault on the foundational principles of democratic governance”.“I strongly urge you to immediately address and rectify the glitches, address the flaws and make the necessary corrections, failing which this unplanned, arbitrary and adhoc exercise must be halted. If allowed to continúe in its present form, it will result in irreparable damage, large-scale disenfranchisement of eligible voters, and a direct assault on the foundational principles of democratic governance,” she further wrote.
