More tension, less relief for 139 ‘lucky’ voters during West Bengal elections

KOLKATA: For many of the 139 extremely fortunate ones who have got back on the voter list, Wednesday brought a mix of emotions ranging from relief and happiness to, ironically, tension.

In the minority-dominated Samsherganj constituency, the name of Dhuliyan Municipality chairman Md Injamul Islam alias Raja is the only one whose name has appeared on the supplementary list published on Wednesday after the tribunal cleared his case, while more than 74,000 names are pending before the tribunal. Samsherganj recorded 74,775 deletions after judicial scrutiny.

Instead of being relieved, Islam is worried as opposition parties are spreading rumours and maligning him by saying that he has used his power to get his name on the voter roll. He told TOI: "According to EC rules, I was supposed to apply to the tribunal within 15 days of being deleted. I applied after 17 days and I have proof of that. I don't know what is happening or how my name appeared."

Later he told reporters, "It is a planned political conspiracy by BJP to confuse voters. I had openly said during campaigning that my name would be the last to get cleared in the tribunal. BJP and EC have purposefully included my name to break the morale of my colleagues. I have all the proof that no rule was changed for me."

Though the name of the maternal grandson of Nandalal Bose, who illustrated the original manuscript of India's Constitution, has appeared on the supplementary list published on Wednesday after the appellate tribunal cleared his case after the apex court's intervention, Suprabuddha Sen, 88, will not be able to cast his vote on Thursday. "I am 88 years old. I am physically not in a position to go out and vote. So I will not be going to cast my vote," said Sen.

The names of Sen's wife Deepa, 82, and their caretaker Chakradhar Nayek have also been cleared at the tribunal and will be able to vote on Thursday. "My wife and Chakradhar will go to the Visva Bharati Staff Club to cast their vote," he added. They are the electors of Ward 2 under Bolpur constituency.

Dhananjay Sardar, 30, whose name was under adjudication and was later deleted, was finally included just hours before the first phase of the election. Dhananjay lives in a small village in Murshidabad, where several others' names remained deleted while his name was restored. "I am happy that I could cast my vote on Thursday, but in our village several other eligible voters' names remained deleted and should be included."

Bankura voter Rojina Khatun, 25, was very happy after her voting rights were restored. "I never thought that my name would be restored and that I would be able to vote, but finding out that my name was included again on the voter list gave me great relief. I will go and cast my vote early in the morning. However, my father-in-law's name was also deleted, but we do not know the fate of his case. We cannot access the list, so we are waiting to get a call from the BLO," she said.
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