Bigger responsibility now: Cleared voters

Kolkata: Lucky electors, whose appeals for restoration of their voting rights were cleared by the tribunals, felt they had a "much bigger responsibility" now as they could finally be able to vote despite the initial hurdles.

In the previous elections, some of them had skipped voting but this time, they said, they would definitely vote as they got their rights restored after a protracted SIR battle, multiple hearings and a second judicial scrutiny.

A couple from the Charu Market area in the Rashbehari constituency — Suraj Shaw and his wife Lakhi Shaw — are among the area's lucky few whose deleted names were restored on the roll. "With the help of a lawyer, we got our appeal drafted and filed it online. We have won a long battle, just 24 hours ahead of the poll. With the restoration of our voting rights, comes a responsibility. Previously, we had skipped polling but this time, our voting is a priority," said Suraj, a trader.



Names of six members from a family from the Chowringhee constituency were initially deleted following SIR. Finally, in response to their appeals, the tribunal cleared all their names. Amir Iqbal said, "There was a spelling mistake in my father's name, and so, all of us siblings were called for a hearing. Despite our efforts, our names were not cleared. But the tribunal included our names. We will go and cast our votes."

The name of Ananta Ghosh, a voter from Shyampukur constituency, was added to the final list but his 67-year-old mother's name remained deleted. Ghosh said, "I put my grandmother's name in the enumeration form but it was not accepted. My mother and I appealed before the tribunal. If my name was restored, why wasn't my mother's?"

Nipa Das, a restored voter from Bowbazar in Chowringhee constituency, also heaved a sigh of relief to find her name restored. "There was a mismatch with my father's name. I did not have the affidavit and was told to submit my marriage certificate. I was deleted. In the tribunal, I submitted the affidavit and my name was cleared," she said. Md Danish, also a Chowringhee voter, was cleared but his three brothers were not. He said, "It was a spelling mistake. Despite submission of all documents, we faced the deletion."
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