Opposition Slams EC Over Notice To Amartya Sen On 'Impossible' Age Gap With Mother

Bolpur: The Election Commission has summoned economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen for a hearing regarding the age difference with his mother, drawing sharp criticism from the Opposition parties.

As per the 2002 voter list, the economist's mother was 88 years old. Currently, Amartya Sen is 92. Questions are being raised how the Election Commission, in its notice, mentioned a 15-year age difference between him and his mother. According to information, the age difference between Amartya Sen and his mother, Amita Sen, is around 20 years.

As per EC’s information, Amartya Sen's late mother Amita Sen, a resident of Sripalli in Santiniketan, was a voter of Bolpur assembly constituency number 268. According to the 2002 SIR, her name was in serial number 898 of section number 126 of this assembly constituency.

According to the information, Amita Sen was born on July 17, 1912. She passed away on August 22, 2005. Amartya Sen was born on November 3, 1933. On Wednesday, four officers, including ERO Tania Roy and BLO Sombrat Mukhopadhyay, on behalf of the National Election Commission, went to his house, 'Pratichi' with the SIR hearing notice.

As Amartya Sen is currently staying abroad, the officials went to his neighbour’s house and handed over the notice to his cousin Shantavanu Sen and Geetikanth Majumdar, who looks after the ‘Pratichi’ house. The notice mentioned that Amartya Sen's age is 15 years younger than his mother as per the documents available with the commission. There is a slight mistake in the spelling of Amartya Sen's name.

The question arises, if Amartya Sen's mother's age in the 2002 voter list was 88 years, now she would have been 112 years old. Amartya Sen's age is 88 years, according to the Election Commission's information. So, the age difference between his mother and Sen is about 20 years.

Following the notice, questions are being raised about the poll panel’s action. Several opposition leaders slammed the central poll panel over the SIR notice sent to Sen.

CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby accused the Election Commission of India of "displaying absurd bureaucratism" and demanded a stop to the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists across states.

"It is known to all that decades ago the age of marriage was quite low in our country. For instance, I have been told that my mother got married when she was only 13 years old. We all would be familiar with many such cases in our families in the olden days," Baby said in a post on X.

"India should be proud to have someone like Amartya Sen as its voter. Yet, the Election Commission is being petty, displaying absurd bureaucratism. Once again, the criticism that ECI isn't behaving as expected by a constitutional body of such high stature is being proven right. We reiterate our demand to stop this flawed SIR process which is disenfranchising a large number of people," Baby added.

Amid criticism, the poll commission softened its tone saying Sen will not have to attend the hearing in person for this "minor mistake".

Also Read:

1. It's Confirmed! Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Has Been Issued SIR Hearing Notice
2. Amartya Sen Raises Concerns Over SIR That Risks 'Disenfranchising' Poor People