Discontent over valid voters being placed in ‘adjudication’
Balurghat: Frustration is mounting in South Dinajpur district after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll left many legitimate voters’ names stuck in the “adjudication” list. Despite submitting documents during SIR hearings, these voters remain in limbo, unsure if they can vote in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Angur Sarkar from the Salas area voiced his exasperation. “We are five siblings but the mapping showed six. I attended a hearing and submitted all the documents. Yet my brother Ershad and relative Shabnur Khatun’s names are still under review. We don’t know if we can vote,” he said.
Nanda Singh, a domestic worker from Dakra near Balurghat, faces a similar ordeal. Her name lingers in adjudication despite prior submissions. “My husband and two daughters made it to the revised list but not me. I returned to the Balurghat District Collectorate on Friday with more proofs. These endless hearings harass ordinary folks. I lose a day’s wages each time. How long must this drag on?”
she lamented.
Promila Pramanik from Beltara village in Kumarganj, queued at the district office since Thursday morning with Form 6, accompanied by her visually impaired husband, Krishna Kanta Pramanik. “His name is on the list but mine was dropped,” she alleged.
Official data post the first SIR phase on February 28, 2026, shows South Dinajpur’s voter count at 12,32,065 with 6,34,670 males, 5,97,349 females and 46 third-gender voters, down from 13,31,548 previously.
Over 80,000 names were earlier deleted on grounds of deaths or migration; this round added 21,803 more, totaling over one lakh deletions. Meanwhile, 3,304 names were newly added after corrections. The 1,32,258 names under adjudication will be verified by 12 High Court-appointed judges, with further removals possible.
District Magistrate T. Balasubramanian noted that new voter enrollments continue until the candidate withdrawal deadline. Trinamool Congress district co-president Subhas Chaki said: “It’s true that even elected MLAs’ names are in the adjudication list but so are many ordinary people’s.
The most surprising part is that those whose names appeared don’t even know why. In many cases, parents’ names from 2002 are still there but sons’ aren’t post-SIR. Married daughters miss out because their mother’s name is listed but not the father’s. This will harass common people. We fear these 1,32,258 won’t get to vote, as elections are near and revised list inclusion
takes time.”
District BJP president Swarup Chowdhury countered: “SIR is a specific process. It’s natural that the ruling party is worried after fake voters’ names were removed.”
