Mamata Banerjee Approaches Supreme Court Against Poll Body's Bengal Roll Revision

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken her battle against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to the highest court, filing a personal writ petition in the Supreme Court on Sunday. 

The move marks a dramatic escalation in the standoff between the Trinamool Congress-led state government and the Election Commission, just weeks before the final voter list is set to be published on February 14, ahead of the crucial Bengal Assembly elections.

The petition, titled Mamata Banerjee v. Election Commission of India, names the poll body and the state's Chief Electoral Officer as respondents. It directly challenges the ongoing SIR process in Bengal, which the poll body launched to intensively clean and verify voter lists across select states, addressing issues like duplicate entries, ineligible inclusions, and logical discrepancies in data dating back to the last major revision in 2002.

Banerjee, who filed the plea personally after arriving in Delhi on Sunday afternoon, has accused the poll body of political bias, adopting an authoritarian approach, and violating the Representation of the People Act and related rules. 

She has described the SIR as a "backdoor" attempt to implement something akin to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), potentially disenfranchising genuine voters - especially the elderly, disabled, women who changed surnames after marriage, and marginalised communities. 

In multiple letters to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar (her sixth sent just days ago), Banerjee has claimed the process has caused immense hardship, harassment, and even over 140 deaths linked to stress, anxiety, suicides, and related health issues.

A key flashpoint in the petition and her broader campaign is the deployment of around 8,100 "micro-observers" in West Bengal-appointees she calls "illegally appointed" and unauthorised under electoral laws. 

Banerjee argues these figures are manipulating voter data, rendering statutory Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs "helpless spectators," and applying a different set of rules selectively to Bengal compared to other states. She has also flagged alleged AI-induced errors in digitising old rolls, informal instructions via WhatsApp, and mechanical hearings lacking human sensitivity.

This legal strike follows earlier Supreme Court interventions in related pleas (including some from Trinamool leaders like Derek O'Brien), where the apex court directed greater transparency - such as public display of "logical discrepancy" lists affecting around 1.5 crore voters-and provisions for easier document submission to reduce citizen stress. 

Senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal, have previously told the court that the poll body was not fully complying with these orders.

The poll body defends the SIR as a necessary, lawful exercise to ensure "pure" electoral rolls, free from bogus or duplicate voters, and has rejected allegations of bias or overreach. 

Opposition parties, including the BJP, have backed the revision, with leaders accusing the Trinamool government of non-cooperation and shielding ineligible entries.

Adding to the high-stakes drama, Banerjee - leading a 15-member Trinamool delegation - is scheduled to meet poll body chief Gyanesh Kumar at the Election Commission office in Delhi at 4 pm on Monday. 

The confrontation could turn explosive, coming right after her Supreme Court filing and amid reports that hearings for flagged voters must wrap up soon under tight deadlines.

The Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter shortly, with potential arguments as early as this week. 

With state polls approaching, this clash between a fiery chief minister and the constitutional guardian of elections has turned the routine task of voter list revision into a full-blown political flashpoint.