In Charge of Polling, But Cannot Vote Himself: Bengal’s ‘Deleted’ Voter Paradox
Moreover, the districts with the highest deletions—Murshidabad, Maldah, North Dinajpur—have a consolidated Muslim vote, which in the last few elections has voted solidly for the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
This has raised questions over the “targeted deletions” of voters. In Maldah, exasperation led to protests and eventual violence when those seeking answers held judicial officers overseeing the electoral process “hostage” for hours, necessitating a rescue operation in Mothabari.
“Such high deletions are unprecedented. Emotions have been running high, and as poll day neared, the heavy police and security presence has also made people wary,” Farooq, the convenor of Parijayi Shramik Aikyo Mancha, a sangathan (organisation) of migrant workers, said.
In an earlier press conference, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal had said that the 27 lakh people, whose names have been deleted, can appeal before the tribunal for reconsideration. If their names are cleared by the tribunal, they will be included in the electoral roll and can vote again, but not in this election.
“By this logic, the SIR should have taken place much before polls,” Farooq adds.
Of the total voters who had appealed in Murshidabad, Ali informs that as per his information, 63 had been restored through the ‘Appellate Tribunal Supplementary List No 1’. Among them was the name of Dhuliyan Municipality chairman Md Injamul Islam alias Raja. He is the only one from Samserganj whose name was restored, among the over 74,000 persons removed.
For the thousands of voters unable to vote in this election, the future renmains uncertain and laden with even more paperwork. “Would anyone care about us once the elections are over?” Sakim Sheikh, a deleted migrant worker from Samserganj, says.
