Kolkata, 22 December (H.S.) :

The draft electoral roll revision process has once again sparked controversy in West Bengal, with fresh allegations emerging from Birbhum district after a living woman was reportedly declared dead in the voters’ list. The latest case comes close on the heels of a similar incident reported earlier from Hooghly.

Siuri MLA Bikash Roy Chowdhury alleged that Ganga Mal, a resident of Ward No. 6 under the Siuri municipality, was wrongly shown as deceased in the draft voters’ list despite being alive. He said the incident was not an isolated one and accused the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of being used in a planned manner to harass common people. The MLA expressed concern that the names of a large number of genuine voters might be removed from the electoral roll.

Ganga Mal’s daughter, Devi Mandal, alleged that the Booth Level Officer (BLO) assigned to their booth never visited their house during the verification process. She claimed that enumeration forms were collected from a specific location in the area and, with the help of local Trinamool Congress workers, were filled in and later submitted at the BLO’s residence.

According to Devi Mandal, her mother is around 70 years old and is physically unwell, making her unable to move about independently. For this reason, she could not personally submit the form. However, Devi said the enumeration form carried her mother’s thumb impression and was duly submitted. After the publication of the draft voters’ list, when her mother’s name was found missing, attempts were made to contact the BLO, but no clear response was received.

She expressed apprehension that if her mother’s name remains deleted from the voters’ list, she could be deprived of old-age pension, ration benefits and other government welfare schemes. Devi demanded immediate correction of the record.

Responding to the issue, MLA Bikash Roy Chowdhury said his party stood firmly with the affected family. He also pointed out another alleged irregularity in the Tilpara panchayat area, where a permanent resident was shown as “transferred” in the voters’ list. He asserted that the Trinamool Congress would take all necessary steps to ensure that every eligible voter’s name remains on the electoral roll.

Earlier, similar discrepancies were reported from Barabani Assembly constituency in Asansol, West Burdwan district, where two elderly persons were reportedly listed by the Election Commission as one being dead and the other missing, despite both being alive. With the latest case from Birbhum, serious questions have once again been raised over the transparency and accuracy of the voter list revision process in the state.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh