No full stops in West Bengal SIR. Those ‘excluded’ now in dark about what next

The Indian Express managed to track down 10, who now  either have “excluded” against their names in the voter list, after tribunal rulings, or who fear they have been deleted as they are yet to even get an acknowledgment from tribunals on their applications.

All remain unsure of what awaits them next: detention, deportation, denial of government benefits, a long court case, or reapplication from the start?

Anima Paswan (50) who makes flower garlands in Nimtolla slum beside circular railway tracks, she is a deleted voter. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

The state BJP government has talked about all of the above as possibilities, while the ECI says reapplication — starting all over again as a “new voter” — is an option.

Sabia Khatun, 42; father Samsul Alam, 72: Residents of Bolpur, Sabia and Samsul have been struck off the voter list by a tribunal, though Samsul’s son Intekhab Alam has got in. They heard in May that the tribunals had ruled against them, says Intekhab.

While Samsul works as a helper at a cloth shop in Kolkata, Sabia is divorced. Before the 2026 elections, in which they could not vote due to their SIR status, both had been voters in the Bolpur Assembly constituency.

A factory worker, 43-year-old Intekhab says: “There is panic and fear in the family. My name, my uncles’ names are in the voters’ list, but that of my father and sister are deleted. My father worked in Kolkata and therefore his name was not on the voters’ list of 2002 (which is seen as conclusive proof by the ECI). My father and sister were called for hearings, where they gave all the documents, including their secondary board and higher secondary board certificates. But then their names went to the tribunal. In May we learnt that their names had been deleted. They got no notice.”

The family then moved the Calcutta High Court. On August 4, the court directed the tribunal to once again adjudge Samsul’s case, while Sabia’s petition is yet to be heard. In his order, Justice Krishna Rao said: “… the Appellate Tribunal is requested to consider and dispose of the appeal preferred by the petitioner as early as possible, preferably within a period of three months from date”.

Speaking over the phone from Birbhum, Sabia tells The Indian Express: “What can I say? Every day I see ministers saying that those struck off the voter list will not be a part of government schemes like ration. I am still getting my rations. But we live in fear.”

In his very first Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that those deleted in the SIR will not be able to avail state government welfare schemes, though exceptions will be made for those whose applications are pending before tribunals or who have applied under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Other ministers have since repeated the warning.

Sabia and Samsul’s Booth Level Officer (BLO), Kabita Rajak, told The Indian Express: “Samsul’s parents too are not in the 2002 voters’ list. They may have given school certificates, but I don’t remember.”

Manjura Begum, 31: A resident of Arambagh in Hooghly, the 31-year-old says she came to know on July 1 that her name was “excluded” from the voter list. Married to Sheikh Jiadul Hussain, a carpenter, Manjura has three children, and has voted earlier in the Arambagh Assembly seat.

Says Hussain: “My wife’s parents were voters in 2002. We gave this and other documents to the BLO, but then her name went to adjudication. Again, during the hearing, we gave all the documents. Then her name went to the tribunal. Now she is not a voter anymore.”

The process was marked by errors, Hussain says. “Manjura has four siblings, but the notice to her stated there were seven of them. Now, all her brothers and sisters have cleared the SIR, but she has been dropped.”

On July 28, Manjura moved the Calcutta High Court, and is waiting for a hearing. Her lawyer Saloni Bhattacharya says: “This is purely harassment of people. When we were pleading the case, the ECI lawyer said it was not necessary to call people for a hearing (before the tribunals). But we contested saying that my client had a right to be heard.”

Questioning the functioning of the tribunals, Bhattacharya says: “My client, like others, was not even given a reason for their deletion. The tribunals are not assigning reasons or giving any written order based on which one can approach the courts for redressal. The process is very slow and people are confused. How many people have the capacity to approach the High Court?”

Hussain says they are worried about word getting out about Manjura’s status. “What will our neighbors think when they learn we are one of the ‘deleted’ ones?”

Manjura shoots back: “We are deleted, not departed. We and our families have to live here.”

However, the bravado soon slips. “We are so tense. I have three children… what will happen to me? Will they throw me out of the country? Will our rations be stopped? How about the formalities that one has to do for bank accounts or LPG connection? Will we be able to do it without our names in the voter list?” says Manjura. “It would have been better if we had died,” she murmurs.

Asked about her case, her BLO Saiful Mullick said: “There are 1,017 voters in the booth I work for, names of 105 were deleted, including Manjura… My personal opinion is they may be genuine voters. Without showing any reason, their names were deleted.”

Javed Khan, 48: A resident of Hooghly, Khan says he found out last month that the tribunal had ordered his name struck off the voter list.

“My mother, brother and wife’s names are there, but mine was dropped. They did not even call me to ask for my documents,” says Khan, who has been a voter in the Sreerampur Assembly seat.

A construction worker, the 48-year-old, who lives with his wife, son and mother, is not clear what to do next. “My father’s name was in the 2002 voter list. But mine was deleted. I asked the BLO, he too is clueless.”

BLO Khurshid Anwar said: “I really don’t know why his name has been deleted.”

Amina Paswan, 50: The 50-year-old lives in a slum along the railway tracks near Nimtolla in Kolkata, and makes flower garlands for a living. After losing her husband 17 years ago, she raised her son on her own.

Amina says that she found out in April that while her son Rabi, 30, had made it to the voter list, she was out, despite attending a hearing. “Then, with the help of a local NGO, I submitted my appeal to the tribunals offline.” She never heard anything from the tribunals, she says, not even an acknowledgment.

The ECI website shows “excluded” against her name.

Amina, who earlier voted in the Shyampukur Assembly seat, says: “My husband’s name was not in the 2002 voters’ list, though he came from Bihar long back. But his brother’s name was there. I gave my documents linked to my husband’s, along with other documents. My son submitted papers linking to his uncle, and his name was cleared.”

Scared of what is to come, Amina says: “I get a widow pension from the government along with rations. This has not stopped, but I fear it will soon. I do not have money to go to court. I just earn Rs 200 daily selling flower garlands.”

Her BLO Kalyan Bisi said: “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Pinki Das, 31: Amina’s neighbor at the Nimtolla slum, Pinki works as a domestic help. Her husband Sacchu, 45, is originally from Madhubani in Bihar but settled in Kolkata years back, she says. He is in the voter list.

“We got our voter card, Aadhaar card, e-shram card, everything made here. I have never even voted in Bihar, but voted here (in the Shyampukar Assembly seat). I have four children, all born here,” she says.

Pinki says after her name didn’t make it to the SIR final list, despite her attending a hearing at a local school on January 6, she applied to the tribunals. “I never got a receipt,” she says, leaving her in the dark about her status.

Pinki, who has four children, says her family depends on her earnings. “My husband, a rickshaw puller, is a drunk. What will I do if my name doesn’t make it to the voter list? My rations are continuing, but for how long? I am not a Bangladeshi.”

Of Pinki’s four children, three are in school while another is training in hotel management with an NGO. “What will their future be?”

Her BLO Kalyan Bisi said: “I don’t want to talk about this.”

Soni Devi, 30: A neighbour of Amina and Pinki, Soni says she finds herself in the same boat. “My in-laws are from Begusarai, Bihar. But, we are not voters there. For years we have lived here and made our voter card here, along with Aadhaar and other documents… This is our home.”

It’s not just her “but also my three children who are at the mercy of the government”, Soni, who voted in the Shyampukar Assembly seat earlier, says. “If I am not a voter, what will be their status when they grow up?”

BLO Kalyan Bisi said: “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sheikh Chotu, 35; wife Guria Bibi, 31: A rickshaw puller, Sheikh lives with his wife Guria in a slum in Rajabazar area of Kolkata. Both are now “excluded” from the voter list, after a tribunal order.

It makes no sense, Sheikh says. “In the last elections, we both voted (in the Beleghata Assembly seat). We filled our SIR forms and submitted the papers. While not even a response came for my wife, nor was she called for hearings, in my case, the BLO first told me everything in my form was fine. Then he said I have to come for hearings. I gave all the papers. But still they deleted my name.”

Sheikh, whose brothers have been cleared as voters, says he along with him had papers establishing their links to their father, whose name was in the 2002 voters’ list.

Guria says their life may never be the same. “Our neighbours, when they get to know we are deleted from the voter list, may have a different opinion about us. Moreover, till now we get rations. I don’t know whether it will continue.”

Their BLO Md Fakkrudin said: “We submitted their forms and papers. Now, the office and the (tribunal) judges will decide. What can I say, I am just a BLO.”

Asma Khatun, 30: Asma, whose husband is a rickshaw puller, says she was confident her case had no loopholes as the names of both her parents were in the voters’ list of 2022.

Then came the “excluded” notification. Pointing out that she has voted in four previous elections in Bengal (in the Beleghata Assembly seat), Asma says: “Now I don’t know what will happen. I gave my ration card, voter card, birth certificate and other papers to the BLO. I was called for a hearing but later told my name was deleted. Now, even my application to the tribunals has been rejected… I have three children, where will I go now, if they drive us away.”

BLO Md Fakkrudin BLO said: “The office and judges will decide… I am just a BLO.”

Kahakasa Shakil, the coordinator of NGO Mukta Kantha Mahilla Samity, which is helping the deleted voters in Kolkata slums, says: “There are a number of such people. We helped them submit appeals to tribunals on April 10. Out of the 54 people for whom we helped file appeals offline, no (acknowledgment) receipt has been received for 17. We don’t know why.”

The court option is not simple either, adds Shakil. “We wanted to approach the Calcutta High Court on behalf of these people. But the procedure, we were told, is that it is the individuals who have to appeal. These are poor people… they cannot afford the expense.”