Stranded on island,25-yr wait to vote over for 1800

In 1985,Nadia administration refused to enlist them as voters since all their documents showed them to be the residents of Hooghly. At the same time,the district administration in Haldia said they could not vote here,as the island had now become a part of the Nadia constituency geographically.

Finding themselves stranded,the 1,800-odd voters have been waiting for 24 years now to get their voting rights back.

On Thursday,an EC team led by Chief Electoral Officer Debashis Sen visited the place and after speaking to locals,it decided that the portion of land falls into the Kalyani Lok Sabha constituency,which includes Nadia district,and not under the Balagar constituency where it was earlier.

Acting quickly,the EC team today opened three registration camps there. According to EC sources,they have received applications of around 1,200 voters. Since there is no electricity in the island and no Xerox machines either,the villagers came to the electoral registration camp with original documents. The EC team had taken along with it three digital cameras so that photographs could be taken immediately.

“There is a huge enthusiasm among voters. We have received 1,200 applications for Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs). We will try to issue EPICs to them soon,” Sen said,adding the EC team has started a house-to-house verification in the area.

Asked why the issue was not sorted out in the past 25 years during which several elections took place,Sen said the Commission was equally confused over the issue.

“There was a boundary problem. Also,the residents had a mental block that they should be under Hooghly constituency as the place is nearer to Hooghly. But from the administrative point of view,we have decided the land comes under the Kalyani constituency,” said Sen.