Overview
- In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the West Bengal chief minister called the Special Intensive Revision “unplanned, chaotic, and dangerous” and urged an immediate pause in the state.
- The appeal followed the death of booth-level officer Shanti Muni Ekka in Jalpaiguri, whose husband filed an FIR naming the Election Commission after alleging SIR-related stress.
- Police registered an unnatural-death case as the Election Commission sought a report from the Jalpaiguri district magistrate, with no change announced to the SIR schedule.
- Officials say the nationwide drive has distributed over 50 crore forms across 12 states, with West Bengal reporting 99.72% form distribution and digitisation due by November 26 ahead of a December 4 upload target.
- Reports from Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal cite additional fatalities and serious illnesses linked by families to workload pressures, while BJP leaders dismissed Mamata Banerjee’s allegations as politically motivated.