Former India women’s cricket team captain Jhulan Goswami was summoned for a hearing under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal after officials flagged a discrepancy in her family records.
According to election officials, the notice was issued after variations were found in the spelling of her father’s name across official documents. While some records mention the name as Nishith Ranjan Goswami, others list it as Nishith Goswami. The discrepancy led to Goswami and her siblings being called for verification as part of the ongoing revision process.
Goswami is one of India’s most successful women cricketers, having represented the country in 12 Tests, 204 One-Day Internationals and 68 T20 Internationals. A former captain of the Indian women’s team, she is the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs and retired from international cricket in 2022 after a career spanning nearly two decades.
The hearing was scheduled on January 27. Officials said that Goswami did not need to appear in person and clarified the issue remotely, while her siblings attended the hearing at a local venue.
The development triggered sharp political reactions, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticising the exercise. In a statement, the party questioned the necessity of summoning a former national sports icon over what it described as a minor clerical inconsistency.
The party also pointed out that Goswami has previously been lauded by national leaders for her contributions to Indian cricket and said the episode reflected poorly on the implementation of the SIR process. “The same icon is now being dragged to prove whether she is even Indian over a petty discrepancy in her father’s name… Exploit our heroes for photo-ops, then subject them to humiliation, suspicion, and state-sponsored indignity… a party that doubts Jhulan Goswami’s citizenship has forfeited all moral authority.”
Election officials, however, maintained that the exercise is routine and applies uniformly to all voters whose documents show “logical discrepancies.” They said the aim is to ensure accuracy in electoral rolls ahead of upcoming elections, and notices have been issued to many individuals across the state.
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