Bengal SIR: An unusual issue has arisen during the ongoing special voter list revision in West Bengal, specifically in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The Election Commission’s software has flagged "logical inconsistencies," prompting millions of people to line up at hearing centres. Many of those affected are being summoned for hearings simply due to their Bengali surnames.
This issue arises from the distinction between the long and short forms of ancient Bengali surnames.
As reported by Jagran.com, the ongoing SIR process in West Bengal has revealed that the software flags these variations in surnames as different identities based on an algorithmic match, without recognising their well-documented historical connection. The software fails to account for the fact that many surnames have evolved over generations.
For instance, if a person’s grandfather was listed as Mukhopadhyay but the grandson has registered as Mukherjee, the software incorrectly identifies it as a “mismatched surname,” triggering a notice. This issue extends to other common Bengali surnames, such as Bandyopadhyay being flagged as Banerjee, Chattopadhyay as Chatterjee, Gangopadhyay as Ganguly, and Bhattacharya as Bhattacharjee.
Why Bengali Surname Variations Are Forcing Voters To SIR Hearings?
During British colonial rule, many long Bengali surnames were abbreviated for the sake of easier pronunciation and documentation. Today's generation predominantly uses these shortened forms, which the Election Commission now views as an “error.” This reflects a clerical distortion dating back to the colonial era.
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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly condemned this issue. She accused the Election Commission of insulting Bengal’s culture and identity. She cited several examples of "discrepancies" flagged by the authorities. “I am Mamata Banerjee, but in Bengali I write Mamata Bandyopadhyay. Byaas, baad (that’s it, rejected). Like Rabindranath Tagore and Rabindranath Thakur,” she said. She added, “Someone writes Chatterjee in English and Chattopadhyay in Bengali, or Mukherjee in English and Mukhopadhyay in Bengali. Khub dosh hoye geche (It’s become a tremendous fault).”
CM Mamata Banerjee also questioned why Bengal was the only state to face "logical discrepancy" in the ongoing SIR exercise. "It's happening only in Bengal, it does not exist in any other state," she said.
For many voters, such as Spandan Bhattacharjee from Kolkata's Hazra area, the issue has caused significant distress. He has been summoned for a hearing on January 29 because his father’s name was listed as Ashok Bhattacharya in the 2002 voter list. "It is widely known that these are the same names, but instead of accepting this, Election Commission officials are pressuring us to attend a mandatory hearing," he said.