'Will happily follow law of the land': West Bengal SIR breaks barrier, celebs Md Shami, Laboni Sarkar queue up for hearing with others

KOLKATA: The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal has broken the celeb-versus-janata barrier.Celebrities who have got a hearing notice as part of the SIR will now have to stand in queues alongside ordinary citizens.

Among them are actor-Trinamool MP Dev, cricketer Md Shami and actor-couple Laboni Sarkar and Kaushik Bandyopadhyay.

None is complaining.Shami won't be able to appear before Election Commission officials because of his match commitments. The pace bowler, a registered voter in Bengal, is in Rajkot with the Bengal team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Moushumi Das, councillor of ward 93 (Lake Gardens area), said hearing notices have been generated for Dev and three of his family members.

Dev, however, is yet to get the notice."I have no idea what happened but I will follow all norms," he told TOI.Das, who represents Dev's neighbourhood in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, said, "Since we are helping people during the SIR, we have come to know that the actor and three other members of his family are unmapped voters. I can't say when they will be called." Actor couple Laboni Sarkar and Kaushik Bandyopadhyay stood in a queue for an SIR hearing at a school in Katjunagar, near Jadavpur, on Monday morning.

"It was very smooth. The process was over in 10 minutes," Sarkar said.Asked about the reason for being called, she said, "I think there were some issues with our signatures. My signatures don't always match. I was asked to sign. There was no harassment," Sarkar said.Sarkar and Dev both said they have no problem standing in queues. Sarkar said, "I did not expect any preferential treatment. My husband and I have always been very grounded.

Standing in a queue makes me feel that I am one of the multitude."Dev said, "If I have to stand in a queue for an SIR hearing, I will. I am not expecting any special treatment. I am an Indian. Being a star has nothing to do with me having to follow norms. I will happily follow the law of the land. I have no problem standing in a queue if I am called to a hearing."