Names of 314 villagers deleted from 2002 voter list on ECI website

Raiganj: Tension gripped at Agdimti Khunti village near the India–Bangladesh border under Islampur Police Station in North Dinajpur district after 314 residents reportedly found their names deleted from the 2002 voter list available on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website. Alarmed by the discovery, the affected villagers lodged complaints with the local Block Level Officer (BLO) and the SDO of Islampur on Monday.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders of Islampur have alleged a conspiracy behind the sudden disappearance of so many names from the digital records.

According to sources, booth No. 38 (present) in Agdimti Khunti had a total of 763 voters in 2002. However, during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, villagers checked the 2002 roll on the ECI website and were surprised to find only 449 names listed. The remaining 314 names appeared to have been removed from the online database, though they still existed in the hard copy of the same voter list.

Residents Md Salimuddin, Md Tasimuddin and Md Khaliluddin expressed concern over the discrepancy and said: “We are upset to see our names missing from the 2002 voter list on the ECI website, although they are present in the hard copy. This has created panic among us. We met BLO Md Sahabuddin and approached the SDO for a solution.”

Jakir Hossain, Pradhan of Agdimti Khunti Gram Panchayat and a TMC leader, termed the incident suspicious and said: “We suspect a conspiracy behind the deletion of 314 names from the online voter list. We have informed the SDO and urged immediate corrective action. She assured us of assistance.”

SDO Islampur Ankita Agarwal acknowledged receiving the complaint and assured: “The residents need not worry. Their issue is being examined seriously and necessary steps will be taken to resolve it.”