Bengali film actor and Member of Parliament from West Bengal’s Ghatal constituency, Dev, has been issued a notice to appear for a hearing under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The actor-politician, whose real name is Dipak Adhikari, has been summoned along with three members of his family. Dev has not yet made any public statement in response to the notice.
A three-time MP, Dev represents the Ghatal parliamentary constituency in West Medinipur district. Born in the district, he later moved to Mumbai with his family due to his father’s employment before returning to West Bengal, where he went on to establish a successful career in the Bengali film industry. He is currently a permanent resident of south Kolkata.
The precise reasons for summoning Dev and his family members have not been disclosed so far. However, PTI reported that they have been asked to appear at a designated hearing centre on a specified date and submit the required documents. The date of the hearing has not yet been made public.
The SIR process in West Bengal began on November 4, with the draft electoral rolls published on December 16. The hearing phase commenced thereafter.
In the first stage of the exercise, the Election Commission of India is calling voters who could not establish linkage with the 2002 electoral rolls through their enumeration forms. Such voters have been categorised as “unmapped”. In addition, around 13.6 million voters have reportedly been marked as “doubtful” and asked to appear for hearings.
However, voters aged above 85 years, as well as those who are ill or persons with disabilities, have been exempted from appearing at hearing centres. In such cases, election officials are required to collect documents through home visits. It remains unclear under which category Dev and his family members have been placed.
The SIR exercise and the associated hearing process have drawn sustained criticism from the ruling All India Trinamool Congress, which has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to remove legitimate voters from the electoral rolls. The party has also alleged that the hearings are being used to harass voters.
Trinamool leaders have raised objections to the summoning of a sitting MP and prominent public figure like Dev, arguing that the process raises questions about the manner in which the revision exercise is being conducted.
