Attended hearing, submitted docus. Why are we still under jud scrutiny, ask shocked voters

Kolkata: Several electors across the city, who attended SIR hearings with their documents to mitigate logical discrepancies, discovered their names featured under the adjudication category in the electoral roll published on Saturday.

The family of Rishav Ganguly (25), a resident of Scott Lane near Sealdah, also used the title Acharya, and his great-grandfather, Khogendranath Ganguly, migrated to the city from Chuadanga (now in Bangladesh) during a riot in 1946. Rishav's father's name was mentioned as Tithankar Acharya in the 2002 electoral roll, though he also uses the surname Ganguly. On Feb 4, Rishav appeared for the SIR hearing, and submitted an affidavit declaring that his father, who uses the title Acharya and the surname Ganguly, is the same person.


"The title Acharya was given to our family by the Raja of Krishnagore as it denotes a scholar. Being a minor in 2002, I was mapped to my father in the enumeration form. On Saturday night, I checked the electoral roll and found my name under adjudication. During the hearing, I produced all my documents, including the affidavit from the court of the Ld Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, as the discrepancy was related to Ganguly and Acharya. Despite this, my name is not included in the electoral roll, and it is marked under the adjudication category," he said.

Anubhav Das, an MBBS student at SSKM Hospital and a resident of Rifle Range Road in Ballygunge, did not receive any call for a hearing, but he found that he was under adjudication on the electoral roll. "I was mapped to my father, Amit Das, also a doctor, in the 2002 electoral roll as I was not an adult at that time. Even on the draft SIR list, my name was present along with my parents'. On Dec 25, the BLO called and asked for my PAN card. Though I have my passport, the BLO did not ask for it. While checking the electoral roll on Sunday, I found my name under adjudication."

Kidderpore resident Mohammad Reyaz, a professor of Aliah University, has travelled to six countries to attend seminars, but his passport was not "satisfactory" for the EC to regard him as a legitimate voter. He said, "Everyone in my family, save for my mother, is under adjudication. We were mapped to my mother as my father had a spelling error in his name in the 2002 electoral roll. All of us, except one of my brothers, submitted passports for the SIR exercise. Why were we marked under adjudication?"

Deganga resident Shah Umayer Ahamed said his mother Arafatun Nesa was under adjudication although she attended the hearing. "She was called for a hearing because six persons were mapped to her father. Though she submitted documents, her name was marked under adjudication, and we don't know what to do now."