Kolkata: Political tensions in West Bengal reached a fever pitch on Friday (January 9) as the local unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) lodged a formal protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, just a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC.In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, CPI(M) state secretariat member Samik Lahiri alleged procedural irregularities in the SIR and raised concerns over the handling of voter-related data at the level of electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs). The party claimed that forms collected by booth level officers (BLOs) were being uploaded by private contract workers, affiliated with I-PAC, the election management firm of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)“Allowing employees of a firm working for a specific political party to handle the ‘back-end’ of the voter list preparation is a direct conflict of interest. It violates the core principle of Article 324, which vests the control of electoral rolls solely on an independent Commission. The presence of partisan personnel in the ‘Data Room’ provides the ruling party with unauthorised access to sensitive voter data and the power to manipulate the inclusion or exclusion of names,” Lahiri alleged.The CPI(M) has demanded disclosure of all contract personnel working in ERO offices, verification of IP addresses used for uploading electoral forms, and police verification of individuals handling voter data. Accusing the ECI of massive failure in South 24 Parganas, particularly in the Diamond Harbour and Falta Assembly Constituencies, the party claimed thousands of deceased individuals and “ghost voters” remain on the rolls, threatening the principle of a free and fair election. Beyond data handling, the CPI(M) flagged what it described as arbitrary categorisation of voters under labels such as “logical discrepancy” or “unmapped”, exclusion of Booth Level Agents (BLAs) from verification, and hardship caused to elderly voters, persons with disabilities and migrant workers due to centralised hearings and documentary demands.The letter comes amid a wider political row over the SIR and the role of I-PAC. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written multiple letters to the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that voter-related documents and data were being taken from I-PAC’s office and seeking intervention to halt what she described as irregularities in the revision process.Also read: I-PAC Says ED’s Searches of Its Kolkata Office, Director’s Home ‘Raise Serious Concerns’Speaking at a protest rally a day after the ED raids at I-PAC’s Sector V office and at the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain, Banerjee said, “Why did you come like a thief? You were stealing and taking away people’s SIR money. You were stealing BLA-1 and BLA-2 addresses, applications of ordinary people, and data from my office, from I-PAC, which we had authorised.”The West Bengal chief minister has described the SIR exercise as “chaotic, unplanned, and dangerous” in her communications to the ECI. Public outcry intensified this week after it was revealed that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen was served a hearing notice due to a logical discrepancy in his voter data, specifically, that his age difference with his parents was listed as less than 15 years. While the ECI later clarified that the error would be handled administratively without requiring his presence, the TMC slammed the move as a humiliation of a national icon by a “BJP-controlled ECI”.Election officials have so far maintained that the SIR is being conducted in accordance with established guidelines, though no detailed response has yet been issued to the specific allegations raised by the CPI(M).