Voter list discrepancies emerge as alive voter shown dead in draft roll; 42 others excluded

Raiganj: Md Masiruddin (65), a voter who is alive, was listed as deceased in the draft electoral roll published under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Kachnadanga in Ghinnigaon Gram Panchayat in North Dinajpur district.

Masiruddin and his family members were deeply upset after discovering his name marked as deceased in the voter list. Upon noticing the error, Masiruddin immediately contacted the Booth Level Officer (BLO), who assured him that the mistake would be rectified following guidance from Election Commission officials.

According to reports, names of 143 persons were deleted from booth No. 122 (Kachnadanga) during the draft publication of the SIR. Masiruddin’s name appeared at serial No 104 in the booth.

Masiruddin said: “My name has been in the electoral roll since 2002. I submitted my enumeration form duly filled to the BLO. I do not understand how I was declared dead. I immediately brought the matter to the notice of the BLO.”

Keshab Chandra Sarkar, BLO of Kachnadanga booth, admitted the error and said: “Due to a mistake, Masiruddin was shown as dead in the voter list. The issue has been brought to the notice of the block election officials.” In another incident 42 persons who filed enumeration forms properly did not feature in the draft electoral roll at booth No 15 in Surun -1 Gram Panchayat. After the draft publication, it was found that 42 names, including Abdul Hannan, Roqbul Hossain, Mamtaj Ali, Sanju Khatun and Sabbir Ali, were deleted from the list. Abdul Hannan said: “My name has been in the voter list since 2002. I submitted my enumeration form properly to BLO Ishaque Ali and received a receipt. However, after the draft publication, the BLO mentioned that my form was ‘uncollectable’. I have a receipt copy against the form that I had submitted. The same happened to others. When we raised the issue with the BLO, he did not pay attention. We then met the BDO of Itahar, who assured us of assistance.”

Dibyendu Sarkar, BDO of Itahar, stated: “The BLO mentioned the forms as uncollectible. The affected voters have now been advised to fill up Form No. 6. The matter has been brought to the notice of higher election officials.”