Politics

Bengali migrants in New Delhi rush home amid voter list fears ahead of West Bengal polls

 Amid reports that voters who do not cast their votes in the upcoming West Bengal elections may face deletion from future electoral rolls, Bengali migrants living in New Delhi are returning to their native districts to ensure they can vote in the state elections scheduled for April 23 and 29.. Election Commission officials assist voters at a help desk camp for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls, in Sonagachi, Kolkata. (PTI). Several migrant workers from West Bengal reported instances of deletions or discrepancies in the electoral rolls following the revision exercise. As a result, they are travelling back home not only to cast their votes but also to verify or correct their voter registration status before the April 19 deadline.. One migrant labourer said his name has not yet appeared on the voter list. Of the four brothers in his family, only one has been listed, while the other three are currently being treated as “foreigners.” He added that although people across his settlement plan to travel for voting, arranging transport has become difficult due to the large number of travellers. He also noted that while some names, particularly of those who voted in 2002 have been included, others have been delayed, leaving time for re-verification before the deadline.. Also Read | Large-scale attempts to enrol outsiders as voters in Bengal, says TMC. “Our voting is on the 23rd, and we will go to cast our votes. People from the whole settlement will go, but since so many are going, there is some issue with tickets (travel). Some people’s names are on the list–those who voted in 2002–but for others, the names came late or are delayed. They also have a chance to get it sorted; the deadline is 19th April, and there’s time for re-verification. So people will start going from the 1st. My name is not on the list yet–it hasn’t come. Among four brothers, only one has his name on the list; the other three don’t. Right now, we three brothers are considered ‘foreigners,’ and one brother is ‘Indian’,” he told ANI.. Another migrant from Cooch Behar said she plans to travel home with her family to vote and expressed confidence that such issues may not be widespread now. She acknowledged, however, that similar problems had affected members of the previous generation, with some relatives having their names removed from voter lists in the past.. “Yes, I will also go with my family to vote. I haven’t really heard anything like that. Basically, this issue happened with the last generation. I don’t think something like this can happen now. I have many relatives whose names were removed earlier–there was an issue created at that time,” she told ANI.. A third migrant shared that while his own name remains on the list, his wife’s has been deleted without explanation. He said such cases are not isolated, adding that in his family, both his wife’s and sister-in-law’s names have been removed from the electoral rolls.. “Yes, we will go to vote. Yes, names hav 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending News

Exit mobile version