Trinamool urges ECI to urgently resolve pending SIR appeals before tribunals to help voters cast vote in Assembly bypolls

Kolkata, Sep 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Trinamool Congress has appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to urgently resolve pending Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise appeals before the tribunals to help genuine voters exercise their franchise in upcoming Assembly bypolls in West Bengal.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to safeguard every citizen's right to vote.

In an X post, Islam said, "With by-elections approaching in Murshidabad's Rejinagar and Purba Midnapore's Nandigram, we urge the @ECISVEEP to safeguard every citizen's right to vote. The recent electoral roll revision (SIR) has wrongly excluded nearly lakhs of genuine voters, including lifelong Indian citizens with prior voting records, over trivial issues like spelling variations, transliteration errors between Bengali and English, and minor date-of-birth mismatches."

The Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP claimed that appeals of many affected voters have been pending for a long time, causing them to miss the state Assembly election earlier this year.

According to him, language barriers, worsened by officials unfamiliar with Bengali names and local context, deepened the confusion.

"Many affected voters filed appeals that stayed pending for months, causing them to miss the 2026 Assembly Election entirely. Tribunals are now approving many of these appeals, proving these voters were eligible all along. We cannot afford to disenfranchise citizens again. We appeal to the Election Commission to urgently resolve pending cases and ensure genuine voters aren't left out of the upcoming by-elections," Islam said.

Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar constituencies are scheduled on October 6. Counting of voters will be held on October 9.

Meanwhile, rebel faction of Trinamool Congress led by Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee also appealed to the ECI to ensure a free, fair and peaceful bypoll.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the rebel faction demanded a level playing field for all parties.

"A democratic process cannot be deemed fair unless the authorities establish a level playing field for all. We have received disturbing inputs that the ruling dispensation, aided and abetted by a partisan administration, has commenced creating a climate of intimidation and terrorisation against our leaders and supporters. This constitutes a challenge to the democratic process and requires immediate attention," the letter said.

The rebel Trinamool Congress faction alleged that the police are registering false cases against its supporters and leaders ahead of the Assembly bypolls.

"The dangerous trend of utilising state machinery to suppress the strongest opposition voice necessitates prompt action and appropriate orders. Applications for permission to hold public meetings and rallies are being refused to be processed officially, and even transport associations are being pressured to withhold rental vehicles."

The letter added, "As a principal Opposition Party, We demand that the office of the Chief Election Officer act strongly on representation and to create an atmosphere conducive to a free, fair and peaceful election."

Source: IANS