West Bengal polls: Anxious voters throng EC offices to get on electoral roll

KOLKATA: "Where is the format to file an appeal to get included in the voter list?" a voter from the Chowringee constituency was seen screaming before EC officials on Sunday afternoon at Jessop Building.

The room on the second floor of the building did not have enough space to stand properly as anxious voters approached EC officials in desperate attempts to get their names included in voter list. Md Samim, whose name along with his sister's was deleted after adjudication, was among many voters who came to file an appeal before the tribunal. Many were found to be annoyed as there was no clear format for the appeal.




CEO, Bengal, Manoj Agarwal on Sunday hoped that it will start functioning in next 1-2 days.

A 60-year-old woman from Bowbazar rushed to Jessop Building to file an appeal and was seen extremely confused, asking people for help. Her daughter, who did not wish to be named, said, "In our family, only my mother's name was deleted after adjudication. She has been very upset since the supplementary list was published.

We told her to make this appeal online, but she refused and was keen to do it offline. I am surprised that there is no one here to guide us on what we need to do to include her name in the list. She is a genuine voter."

Sarfaraz Alam, a resident of Topsia, said, "Despite submitting all the documents, including my passport and GST papers as proof of identity, my name was deleted. Not only mine, names of my four brothers were also deleted, while my mother's and our wives' names remain on the list. We are very surprised that after paying tax to the govt and showing a passport as ID proof, we are still not considered Indian citizens. We have already made online submissions and are also making offline submissions."

Marry, a Chinese resident from Bowbazar, said her husband's and daughter's names were deleted while her name along with her son's remained on the list. Her husband filed an appeal before the tribunal, while her daughter filled out Form 6.

Md Kalam, a junior doctor at NRS, said, "We have been living for generations in the Chowringee area. I also studied in this area. In our family, the names of all three brothers were deleted."

Two sisters from Chowringee, who had come to file appeal, said, "This is ridiculous as there are no clear instructions on how to file it. When we asked them to give us a format, they told us to leave and speak to others, but no one made anything clear to us. We have been living here for generations, still our names were deleted."

Many of them were anxious as they believed Sunday was the last day to appeal, as the supplementary list mentioned that appeals had to be made within 15 days of its publication. Since it was Sunday, many faced difficulties in getting photocopies of documents and passport-size photographs. Some returned without submitting documents after waiting for hours.