New Delhi: A 70-year-old woman in West Bengal made it to the voter list published by the Election Commission on April 7, after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The only problem – she was dead. The woman died on March 27, before the Commission published the list after verification of documents. Meanwhile, her husband, Jalaluddin Ahmed Siddique and son, Imran Zaki did not pass the adjudication process.
The woman was a voter in the Chowringhee assembly constituency. While her husband and 1 son have not made it to the voters list and have moved the tribunal for re-verification, her other sons and 1 daughter have qualified as voters following the SIR exercise, which required them to submit enumeration forms.
‘Woman was sick and under mental stress as she feared she would not be able to vote’: Son
According to her son, Imran Zaki who is a social entrepreneur and educationist, the woman was sick and also under immense stress, as she thought that she won’t be able to vote in the upcoming Assembly Elections in West Bengal. He claimed that his mother had voted in all the polls in the past and this time she was a bit distressed.
He added that the BLO came to their house to collect all details, as his mother was sick. However, the irony is that when her name was cleared by the EC and put on the voters list, she was no more, he added.
Zaki demanded transparency from the EC. He wanted to know why his name and that of his father was deleted from the voters list, despite having shared all documents. Times of India quoted him as saying, “We had all our names in the 2002 SIR, and still after sharing all data and documents, we are being harassed.” They are playing hide and seek with a malafide intent, he added.
Family living in Weston Street in Bowbazar for decades
Zaki claimed that his family had been living in Weston Street in Bowbazar for 7 decades now. He said that his grandfather Nazir Ahmed, who was in the British Police, stayed in the same building where the family is living now.
He said that his 81-year-old father is also distressed as he thinks that he will not be able to cast his vote this time. The elderly man is also a social worker and a businessman.
Zaki rued, “We belong to this country and have been part of this city since the British era. How can they delete our names?” The man termed it as a “mockery of the democratic system” and added that he hopes that the names of his father and his name will be added to the voters list soon.