| |
|---|
Khan Arshad, Birbhum:
In Kanmora village of Rajnagar, the names of 103 individuals have been excluded from the supplementary electoral roll. In protest, villagers staged a demonstration on Wednesday and warned of boycotting the upcoming elections.
At Booth No. 20 in the Rajnagar Block, the status of approximately 190 names was under verification. Of these, 103 individuals—including a woman nearly 100 years old—were ultimately struck off the list.
To mobilize the community, villagers used public address systems and protested against the Election Commission, threatening to boycott the polls. Ninety-eight-year-old Jaygun Bibi stated that she is approaching her centenary year and has been voting for decades, yet her name has been removed from the list.
Rahim Khan, Mohammad Owais Karni, Sajeda Bibi, Amir Sheikh, and other affected villagers questioned why their names were struck off despite submitting all the necessary documents. They alleged that the Election Commission had acted deliberately.
Afroza Bibi said that while neither her name nor her husband’s name was removed, their son’s name was excluded. She asked, “How is this possible? If our son loses his voting rights, we too will not go to cast our votes.”
Sheikh Safi Ahmed and Sadek Khan stated, “Although our names were not removed, many villagers had submitted all necessary documents during the verification hearings; yet their names were still excluded. Therefore, we, the villagers, have collectively decided to boycott the elections.”
They added, “However, if our names are reconsidered before the polls and we are allowed to exercise our franchise, we will reconsider our decision to boycott; otherwise, we will not.”
