New Delhi/kolkata, Jan. 5 -- The ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal is being conducted in a "deeply flawed, arbitrary and unconstitutional" manner that could disenfranchise large sections of genuine voters ahead of future elections, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has told chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. In a four-page letter written to CEC Kumar on January 3, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of presiding over an exercise marked by confusion, procedural violations and administrative high-handedness, and warned that the process, if allowed to continue in its present form, would strike at the "very foundation of democratic governance". The CM said she was "constrained once again" to intervene after her earlier letters in November and December 2025 failed to prompt corrective action. Instead, she alleged, conditions on the ground had worsened, with the revision exercise being rushed through without adequate planning, training or clarity of purpose. At the heart of Banerjee's charge is the allegation that the SIR lacks uniform rules and clearly defined timelines, with different states following different criteria. She said instructions were being changed frequently, often through informal channels such as WhatsApp messages and text communications, rather than statutory notifications or circulars - a practice she said had no legal sanctity for an exercise of such constitutional significance. The TMC supremo also raised serious concerns over the alleged misuse of technology, claiming that IT systems used in the revision were unstable and unreliable, and that backend deletions of voters' names were being carried out without due process. She alleged that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), the statutory authorities under the Representation of the People Act, were being bypassed, raising questions over who authorised such deletions and under what legal authority. Banerjee also flagged what she described as the selective and discriminatory application of rules across states. The Family Register, she noted, was accepted as valid proof of identity during the SIR in Bihar but was being rejected in West Bengal through informal instructions, without any statutory order. Similarly, domicile and permanent residence certificates issued by the state were reportedly not being recognised, while migrant workers were being summoned for hearings despite being eligible electors. Though the state's chief electoral officer did not comment on Banerjee's letter, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that while SIR is being carried out in 12 states and Union Territories, Banerjee was the only one raising objections. West Bengal BJP unit president Samik Bhattacharya said, "Everybody has the right to protest but why is Mamata Banerjee the only chief minister doing so? SIR is being carried out in 12 states and Union Territories. It seems she doesn't want the rectification of the electoral rolls."...