Kolkata, 17 December (H.S.): A fresh political controversy has erupted in West Bengal over the draft electoral rolls published as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, after CPI(M)’s state secretary Md Salim and his son were found to have an additional surname incorrectly attached to their names.

Atish Aziz, son of Md Salim, alleged that the surname “Awasthi” was wrongly added to both his name and that of his father in the draft voter list. In a social media post, Aziz said he is a registered voter of the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency and that his name is officially recorded as Atish Aziz.

However, upon checking the draft electoral rolls, he found the surname “Awasthi” appended to his name. The same incorrect surname was also listed alongside his father’s name, triggering questions over the accuracy of the revision process.

Aziz pointed out that his father has been active in politics for decades and said that if such an error could occur in his case, it raised serious concerns about the fate of ordinary voters. He questioned the purpose of spending crores of rupees on the Special Intensive Revision if basic inaccuracies continued to surface.

In a sharp remark, Aziz said that while sections of the media and the Bharatiya Janata Party had claimed the exercise would be used to tighten scrutiny on Muslims, the Election Commission had instead ended up “turning both my father and me into Brahmins” by adding the Awasthi surname.

He also shared images of the draft electoral rolls, which he claimed showed the disputed surname at the end of both names. Aziz said the issue has been brought to the notice of the CPI(M)’s booth-level agent in the area and is being taken up with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer.

The draft electoral rolls were published on December 16 after the digitisation of enumeration form data, marking the completion of the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision exercise.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh