West Bengal elections: SIR deletes voters across the state

KOLKATA: Subarna Bala Poddar, a 97-year-old refugee who has voted in every election since becoming eligible, has had her name deleted following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Subarna Bala was born in Abdullahpur, in what was then undivided Bengal, and was married at a very young age. During the 1947 Partition, her family was forced to leave their home with nothing but the clothes on their back. They moved to Kolkata and since then, they have been living on Narkeldanga North Road.

She is still unaware that her name has been deleted from the voter list. When asked whether she would vote this time, she replied, "Shorir dile vote debo" ("If my health permits, I will vote"). In broken words, she explained that the right to vote is a priority for her and that she has never missed a single election since becoming eligible. Asked if she would be upset if she could not vote this time, she said, "I have a voter's card, so why can't I vote?"

Her daughter, Sandhya Poddar, said, "In 2024, the EC had arranged a home voting facility for her as she was unable to visit the polling booth on her own. Earlier, she used to get ready early in the morning and go to the polling booth with me and other neighbours to cast her vote. However, this time she will not be able to vote as her name has been deleted despite submitting all documents."

There was a spelling mistake in her name, which appeared as Swarna Bala in the 2002 SIR roll. She was called for a hearing where she submitted documents like voter, Aadhaar, bank passbook and widow pension she receives from the state govt, but these were rejected. Her family filled out Form 6 for fresh inclusion of her name, but that too was rejected.

The family is now clueless about how to restore her name. "She receives a widow pension, and we submitted that document as well. But nothing was considered, and everything was rejected. My mother did not have a birth certificate, which was not available those days. We are in the dark about how to restore her name, or whether she will remain a deleted voter for the rest of her life," Sandhya said.

Apart from Subarna Bala, the names of three other voters in her family were also deleted. Her two grandsons, who tried to link their applications through her, also lost their rights. Sandhya said that this year, only four out of eight family members will cast their votes. "We will cast our votes even if half of the family has lost their rights. My mother looks very happy whenever she gets her index finger inked, but I don't know if she will be able to get her voting rights back in her lifetime. But we will keep trying," she said.

Mala Bhattacharya, the BLA of TMC, visited her house on Thursday morning after Kunal Ghosh, Trinamool candidate from Beleghata, met her family during his campaign and expressed his concern.

"I questioned the BLO of this part, but she too was confused about the reason for the deletion of the name and said she that needed to submit ‘solid' documents before EC. Our question is from where a 97-year-old woman will get solid or fool-proof documents other than these. The number of voters in this part has come down to 1,092 from 1,326 after the special intensive revision of electoral rolls," Bhattacharya said.


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