Meet one of 139 voters restored to Bengal rolls: ‘All are asking how… if people want, I will not go to vote’

“At public meetings and rallies, I said if anyone’s name came last in the supplementary list, it would be mine. Now, even my party workers are questioning me. This is embarrassing,” Injamul said, adding, “If the people of Samserganj want, I will not go to cast my vote. I didn’t want this. This may ruin my political career. I want all those whose names have been deleted to get back into the voter list first.”

 

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Injamul questioned the tribunal’s decision, saying he had not followed the guidelines. After the adjudication process, applicants had 15 days to submit an appeal. “According to the Election Commission guidelines, applicants had 15 days from the day their name got deleted to submit their appeals. But I submitted it after 17 days, after everyone else. However, the tribunal cleared my name. It’s not my fault,” Injamul told The Indian Express over the phone.

Dhulian is in the Samserganj Assembly constituency, which saw the highest deletions during the adjudication process, with 74,775 names deleted. Islam said two of his brothers also had their names struck off the rolls. “The tribunals cleared my name, but my brothers’ names have not been cleared.” In a message to local TMC workers, Injamul urged them “not to lose their morale” because of this decision.

The Supreme Court, in an order of April 13, invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct that voters declared eligible by tribunals up to two days before polling be allowed to vote in the Bengal Assembly elections.

Those who did not make the cut

In Murshidabad, which recorded the highest deletion numbers during adjudication at 4.55 lakh, people who did not make it back to the rolls expressed concern. At the YMA Ground in Baharampur, where polling officers collected election material, one of them, Ali Akbar, told Express, “It is a cruel irony that tomorrow I will be working as a polling officer, but my wife will not be able to vote. Her fate still hangs with the tribunals after her name was deleted from the voter list.”

Asked about the election, Jahangir Sheikh, who works at a hotel in Baharampur but is a voter in the Beldanga Assembly constituency, shot back, “What vote? For others, it is vote on Thursday. I have a passport and a birth certificate, yet my and my wife’s names were deleted after adjudication.” His wife, Tuhna Nasrin, is a panchayat member and CPI(M) leader in the Rajdhorpara gram panchayat. His uncle, Hyder Ali, is the local Booth Level Officer (BLO) but did not make it to the electoral list.

A similar picture exists in the Debipur area in the Suti Assembly constituency, around 145 km from Baharampur. Local pharmacist Md Khairul Alam told Express over the phone that neither her nor his siblings can vote on Thursday as their applications are pending before the tribunal.

“I am a pharmacist. My sister, Khaleda Khatun, is a gynaecologist at the Murshidabad Medical College, while my younger brother, Riazul Alam, is doing his internship at the Malda Medical College and Hospital. We three don’t know what to do now. My brother and sister had submitted their doctor registration certificate and other documents. They also have Madhayamik admit card and birth certificate.”

Md Yasin Mahaladar, a resident of the village of Bahadurpur Kabirajtala in Kaliachak in the neighbouring district of Malda, started practising as an advocate at the Malda district court in 2002, when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was last held in the state. While his name has been deleted, his son’s name is on the list.

“I sent my papers to the tribunal. Not allowing us to vote is the first step towards a bleak future. My only respite is that my son will vote tomorrow,” said Mahaladar, whose village is part of the Sujapur constituency.