‘Can’t be trusted to vote… but trusted enough to conduct the elections’: Bengal poll officers whose names stand deleted from rolls

For nearly three decades, Hoque says, he has been a presiding officer for different elections across West Bengal. Now, he is among the 65 election officers, all employed with the government, whose plea against exclusion from the state electoral roll was not entertained by the Supreme Court, which told them Friday to wait for the decision of the slow-moving tribunals.

Before the first phase of voting, on April 23, the tribunals had managed to process 650-odd applications of the 34 lakh pending before them, and added 139 names back to the electoral roll. Two days are left for the tribunals to come up with the last supplementary list for the current round of elections.

Says Hoque, 56, over the phone: “It is unfortunate. I can’t vote but I am scheduled to conduct the elections at Palashipara Assembly constituency of Nadia district as a presiding officer, where polling will be held on April 29.”

A senior teacher at Krishnanagar Collegiate School in Nadia district, Hoque says he had mapped his name back to the 2002 electoral roll, a key requirement in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. However, “In it, my name was listed as Ajijul Hoque Biswas. I don’t know how, as in all my documents, my name is Ajijul Hoque. Later, I got it corrected through an online application. Even after that, I was called for a hearing. So I submitted my passport, my Madhyamik admit card, and my government job I-card. Even after that, during adjudication, my name was deleted.”

The situation was extraordinary, says Advocate Aditya Samaddar, who is representing the petitioners, pointing out that all 65 of them were appointed as polling or presiding officers based on their verified electoral identity. “My clients are found not trustworthy enough to vote, but trustworthy enough, because of the EPIC (voter I-card) number mentioned on their appointment letters (as presiding officers), to conduct the elections… They are verified as government employees to conduct the elections, but are told they cannot cast their own vote.”

Samaddar says that the petitions by the 65 contend that their names were deleted without proper notice or reasoning, and that the process violates statutory safeguards and constitutional protections. They also sought to be allowed to vote through postal ballots as they were on election duty, while their appeals against deletion remain pending.

Swati Mollah, who is among the 65, says her name was deleted citing the “age gap” issue, but her siblings who are younger have been included. Under the unprecedented “logical discrepancy” criterion used this time by the Election Commission, names of voters with a gap of less than 15 years or more than 50 years between them and their parents were flagged.

“All of us submitted our grandmother’s documents. My mother proved she is her daughter, and all three of us sisters proved we are our mother’s daughters. Everyone was given a clean chit, except me,” says Mollah.

Claiming “complete lack of procedural fairness”, she adds: “I was born here, I have all my documents. There was no notice, no proper hearing, no explanation.”

Abul Hasnat, a teacher at the Baharampur College of Engineering and Textile Technology, says that ever since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he has served as presiding officer in polls. He also figured in the 2002 electoral roll, he says. “But my name was mentioned as Abul Hasnat Mondol. I got that corrected, but even after that, I was called for a hearing. So I submitted my passport, my government I-card.”

After his name was deleted, Hasnat says, “I was called to serve as a presiding officer in the Khargram Assembly seat.” It voted on April 23 and Hasnat says he turned up as required.

Jahirul Islam, a ‘High Madrasah’ teacher in Khargram, was also employed as a presiding officer at the Khargram Assembly seat.

“We are four brothers and five sisters. We were called for a hearing and my siblings’ names were included and my name excluded. I submitted my passport and government I-card. I had faith in the Supreme Court, but it too declined to hear our petition,” says Islam.

Now his lost hope is the tribunals, he adds. “I am a voter at Mangolkot, which votes on April 29.”

Md Shahidul Islam, 36, from Murshidabad believes his name was deleted due to a spelling discrepancy in his father’s name. “I had mapped my name to his in the 2002 electoral roll, but because his name was misspelled in the 2002 roll, they removed mine.”

Shahidul says his name was removed despite the submission of multiple documents, including his birth certificate, passport, his OBC certificate, his Class 10 certificate, and job-related papers. The authorities did not even verify his papers before deleting his name, he claims.

However, his April 23 election duty was not taken away.

Firoj Ali, 39, lso of Murshidabad, too claims he got no intimation from the authorities. “We are four brothers and all of us linked our names to our father, whose name exists in the 2002 voter list. But the BLO (Booth Level Officer) claimed six people had linked to my father’s name as their children, and hence I was denied clearance though my siblings were included… Where did six (children) come from when we are only four?”

Says Ali: “I submitted my voter ID, PAN card, Class 10 certificate and caste certificate. If they had informed me or called me for a hearing, I could have shown even more documents, including my grandfather’s 1969 land deed, and my father’s records.”

The seat where he was the presiding officer voted on April 23.

Says Jahirul, who officiated in the Khargram Assembly seat the same day: “It felt strange. All the people were voting, I was controlling the unit, and I was the only one who doesn’t have voting rights.”

Avantika Basu is an intern with The Indian Express