The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed officials not to call elderly voters aged 85 and above, as well as ailing and disabled persons, for physical hearings during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. This order came after anger over summoning such vulnerable voters for hearings starting December 27. The Additional Chief Electoral Officer instructed District Magistrates to verify these voters via phone or at their homes if notices were already sent. Earlier, the ECI also told district election officials not to summon voters labelled 'unmapped' if their names or ancestral details appear in the 2002 voter list. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the SIR process on December 30, asking why booth-level agents (BLAs) were barred from hearings. Protests erupted across the state demanding BLAs' presence, and hearings were halted in Hooghly’s Chinsurah after Trinamool MLA Asit Majumdar raised objections. At a Bankura gathering, Banerjee called the SIR a huge "scam" involving artificial intelligence to delete 54 lakh voter names, falsely blaming Electoral Registration Officers. She said the EROs denied carrying out the deletions. Banerjee warned she would gherao the Election Commission office in Delhi if legitimate voters are removed during this revision. The controversy highlights tensions as West Bengal’s voter list undergoes intense scrutiny and protests continue.