Scramble for right office, lawyer letters for plea-filing

Kolkata: Many citizens whose names were deleted from the electoral roll ran from the pillar to post on Thursday to file appeal before the tribunal to consider restoration of their voting rights. Due to the lack of proper guidelines about the process, the residents had to pass through several hurdles to get their appeals uploaded, the first hurdle being to find the right govt office.The scramble started in the afternoon at the DM's office and other govt offices where SIR-related works are done, and most of the people sought clarity about filing appeals. Earlier, EC officials had stated that the deleted voters can either file appeals online through the ECI NET platform or get it uploaded with help of officials at DM/SDM/SDO office. It was found that some, unable to file their appeals online, visited several govt buildings before they zeroed in on the right building housing the specified office.Senior citizen Rabindra Kumar Jha, a ‘deleted' voter from Shyampukur, was spotted at Jessop Building. "During the hearing, the BLO came with me. But this time, the BLO told me that I would have to do the needful by myself. I went to the local KMC ward office to know where I need to go to file the appeal. After visiting some govt buildings, I came to Jessop Building to see if officials are helping people in making appeals for the tribunal," said Jha.Like Jha, many other ‘deleted' voters came to Survey Building in Alipore with their documents to file appeals. All of them were not lucky like Suraj Singh, who came armed with an appeal drafted under the guidance of a lawyer. "The officials checked the appeal and a set of documents I brought with me. They digitised and uploaded my appeal for the tribunal. My neighbour also came with me, but he could not do it as he did not have the application," said Singh, a resident of Deshpran Sashmal Road.In keeping with the EC's previous declaration that no lawyer and supporting document would be required to pray to the tribunal, most of the people came with empty hands or just with the list of ‘deleted' voters in their respective part numbers. Aman Shaw, a ‘deleted' voter from Rashbehari, said, "The officials told me to bring a written prayer tomorrow and then they will upload it for the tribunal. My name was deleted from the supplementary list published on March 27, and it was clearly mentioned that the appeal will have to be made within 15 days. I will spend anxious moments till I get to file the appeal."