Teacher selected as polling officer finds name deleted from electoral rolls

Siliguri: Several names have been deleted from the final voter list following the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process. Despite being deleted from the list, Jagadish Roy, a state-aided college teacher and resident of Champasari Gram Panchayat (Part No. 25/227), has been appointed as a 3rd Polling Officer for the upcoming elections by the Election Commission of India.

Questioning the decision, Roy alleged political bias behind the deletion. “If my name has been removed, it makes no sense to appoint me for election duty. Despite submitting all necessary documents, my name was deliberately excluded,” he said, further alleging the involvement of BJP leaders.

He also stated that his elder brother’s name has been deleted from the list.

Meanwhile, a major controversy has emerged from Kochubari Lahugachh village under Bidhannagar-1 Gram Panchayat in Phansidewa block, where 609 voters have reportedly been deleted from the final list. The two booths (27/223 and 224) earlier had 1,533 voters. Residents claimed they had submitted all required documents during the SIR process. The large-scale exclusion has triggered panic and anger among locals. Even the names of a panchayat member and his family were allegedly removed.

Protesting against the issue, villagers blocked the Bengal-Bihar connecting state highway on Sunday, blaming the Election Commission for negligence. They demanded immediate reinstatement of all deleted names.

Md. Sarif, one of the protesters, said: “If our names are not included in the voter list, we will gherao the SDO and BDO offices and boycott the polls.”