'This is so sad': Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee says EC sent SIR notice to Amartya Sen

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen is one of the world's most respected economist

The Election Commission of India has sent notice to Nobel laureate Bengali economist Professor Amartya Sen to appear for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing, according to India Today.

The India Today report stated that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee claimed that the poll body is targeting Bengal citizens.

"This is so sad, they have sent a notice to Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for India, enriching the country and making it more renowned on the world stage. They have also sent a notice to cricketer Mohammed Shami, who played for India in the World Cup. They have sent a letter to the renowned actor Dev. It's an attempt to discredit and harass everyone," he said.

Addressing a rally, he questioned how a" person like  Sen, who is the pride of the nation and has earned its respect," has been called for a SIR hearing.

"In the name of SIR, BJP-ECI nexus is targeting people of Bengal. When I came here I got to know Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who brought global recognition for our country has been served hearing notice," the TMC MP said as quoted by India Today.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday escalated her confrontation with the Election Commission, alleging that the poll panel was illegally using mobile applications developed by the BJP's IT cell to conduct the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in the state.

The BJP rejected the charge as baseless and politically motivated.

Speaking to reporters before concluding her two-day visit to Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district to review preparations for the annual Gangasagar Mela, Banerjee accused the EC of adopting what she described as "wrong, unconstitutional and undemocratic" methods in carrying out the revision exercise ahead of next year's assembly elections.

"The EC is resorting to all kinds of wrong moves for conducting the SIR. It is marking eligible voters as dead, and forcing the elderly, ill and indisposed to attend hearings. It is making use of mobile apps developed by the BJP's IT cell for the exercise. This is illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic. This cannot go on," the chief minister alleged.

Her remarks marked the sharpest charge yet in a rapidly intensifying standoff between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government and the poll panel over the SIR, an exercise mandated periodically to update and verify electoral rolls, but has turned out to be politically contentious in West Bengal.

Banerjee's fresh allegations came on a day when senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien moved the Supreme Court against the Election Commission, accusing it of taking recourse to "arbitrary and procedurally irregular actions" while conducting the revision.