Bengal SIR: Former India footballer receives EC summon, says 'no choice but to appear'

Former India footballer Mehtab Hossain has said he will respond to the Election Commission’s summons issued under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, saying he has nothing to hide and will submit all required documents.

"They are calling everyone; celebrities bigger than me have been called. I will provide every document and proof which is needed for the process," Hossain told news agency ANI after receiving the notice, which asks him to appear for a hearing on February 1.




Hossain said the summons could be linked to a discrepancy in voter records related to his mother’s name. "My mother's name was present in the 2002 voter list, but our title is Hossain, and her name had Begum written because that was her real name. We have changed that to Noorjahan Begum Hossain. I think that's why I have been called," he said.

The former midfielder also raised concerns about how the SIR exercise is being carried out. "We don't have any choice but to appear. I think there should have been more planning. Correction happens everywhere, and people will benefit from that, but planning is the problem. It all happened very suddenly," he said.

Referring to the size of the exercise, Hossain suggested a longer, phased process. "West Bengal has a big population, and doing zone-wise SIR for six to seven months more would have been better. Perhaps it's because of the vote (elections). I don't know the exact reason, but we have to appear because we are called," he said.

Hossain is among several sportspersons who have received notices under the SIR process. Earlier, women’s cricketer Jhulan Goswami and cricketers Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Mohammad Shami were also summoned and later appeared for hearings.

The notices have drawn criticism from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has questioned the intent behind the SIR process, particularly the summoning of well-known sportspersons.

In a post on X, the party said the summons reflected "the true depth of BJP's paranoia."

"Sportspersons who wore India on their chest, carried the Tricolour across stadiums, and made the nation proud are now being dragged to SIR hearings to 'prove' who they are. This is the true depth of @BJP4India's paranoia," the post read.

Referring to Hossain’s career, the TMC added, "After Mohammed Shami and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, former India footballer Mehtab Hossain, a man with 33 international caps, who played for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, whose only identity has always been India, is now being summoned over spelling errors."

The party further said, "When even athletes who have represented the nation on the global stage are not spared, it is obvious this SIR is not about electoral rolls, but about harassment, driven by @BJP4India's desperation and enabled by a captured Election Commission."

The Trinamool Congress has repeatedly opposed the SIR process in West Bengal.

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