NEW DELHI, Jan. 7 -- Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen has been issued a notice to appear for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee claimed on Tuesday, triggering a fresh political confrontation between the party and the Election Commission over the ongoing voter roll revision exercise in West Bengal. In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee claimed that Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen had been issued a notice to appear for an SIR hearing, and accused the Election Commission of targeting residents of the state. Addressing a public meeting, Banerjee said notices had also been sent to Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami and actor-politician Deepak Adhikari. "This is so sad. They have sent a notice to Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for India," Banerjee said, adding that the exercise was being used to "harass" individuals. He questioned how "a person like Amartya Sen, who is the pride of the nation", could be asked to appear for an SIR hearing. The Election Commission's official handbook on electoral roll management instructs Electoral Registration Officers to ensure that the names of Members of Parliament, members of state legislatures, holders of declared offices, and personalities from fields such as arts, culture, journalism, sports, the judiciary and public services are included in the draft electoral rolls and appropriately flagged in the electoral database to prevent wrongful deletions. Despite these instructions, several public figures, including sitting MPs and personalities from the listed fields, have been issued SIR notices during the ongoing revision exercise. The Election Commission has not issued any official confirmation regarding Banerjee's claim about Sen. Separately, TMC MP and actor Dev, whose real name is Deepak Adhikari, has received an SIR hearing notice along with three members of his family. Adhikari is a three-time Member of Parliament from Ghatal in West Midnapore district. Though born in Ghatal, he had moved to Mumbai with his family for work before returning to West Bengal and settling in south Kolkata. According to officials, Adhikari and his family have been asked to appear before the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer at the designated centre and submit supporting documents. His voter registration is currently listed under Kolkata Municipal Corporation Ward No. 93, which falls under the Rashbehari Assembly constituency. Other actors from the Bengali film industry, including Anirban Bhattacharya, Kaushik Banerjee and Laboni Sarkar, have also received SIR notices in recent weeks. Election Commission officials have said the notices were linked to discrepancies or gaps in documents submitted during enumeration. Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami and his brother Mohammed Kaif were also summoned for SIR hearings. Shami, who is representing Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, is scheduled to appear on January 9 and 11. His name surfaced during scrutiny due to issues related to progeny mapping and self-mapping, officials said. While the SIR exercise has drawn criticism in West Bengal, similar concerns were raised in Uttar Pradesh after the draft SIR voter list was published on Tuesday. Senior Congress leader Gurdeep Singh Sappal said on social media platform X that his name and those of his family members had been deleted from the draft list, despite being enrolled voters for over two decades. "My name and my family members' names are deleted," Sappal wrote. He said their names were present in the 2003 voter list as well as in the most recent elections, and that they had submitted documents as required under SIR guidelines. He listed passports, birth certificates, Aadhaar cards, matriculation certificates, bank records and property papers as documents already available with the authorities. Sappal also pointed to his previous roles in public office, saying he had served as Joint Secretary to the Vice President of India and in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. "Infact, I have also been a part of Congress delegations to Election Commission on SIR and other issues," he wrote, adding that the Booth Level Officer was familiar with his case. According to Sappal, the reason cited for the deletion was a change in residence from Sahibabad constituency to Noida constituency. He claimed officials informed him that under SIR, there was no provision to retain names of voters who had shifted residences. "Means, if anyone has shifted the residence to a new area, his/her name will be deleted," he said. Sappal said he could re-enrol by submitting Form 6 but questioned how many voters would be able to complete the process within the stipulated time. "I am not alone. There are crore of voters whose names have been deleted on the same grounds," he added. The Election Commission has said the SIR exercise is aimed at cleaning electoral rolls and that affected voters have opportunities to file claims and objections before final lists are published....