In Bengal's Murshidabad, roll deletions trigger 'decitizenisation' fears

Rokina Bewa sat on a patch of grass outside the Land Management Training Centre in Murshidabad district’s Baharampur, clutching a bundle of photocopied documents. She had come to submit papers for an appeal against the deletion of her son’s name from the electoral rolls.

 

The photocopying had cost her ₹200 — a significant expense for someone with no regular income — but they were necessary for the appeal. “Is it fair that I should have to spend this much? Can I afford it?” she asked repeatedly, tears welling in her eyes.

 

Rokina became a widow about three years ago. Her son, a mason, finds work only intermittently. The uncertainty of what might happen if his name remains off the electoral rolls weighs heavily on her.

 

Rokina was one among many who had gathered outside the district administrative office that day, each holding a stack of papers — identity cards, photocopies of older papers and land records — many of which they could barely read. Accompanying them was the hope that these would be enough to restore a name to the electoral rolls. 

 

Burden of proof

 

For Ajijul Sekh, 63, from Rejinagar, the problem lies with his name. In the 2002 electoral rolls, he was listed as “Bubloo Sekh”, a nickname by which he was known locally. He later changed it to his official name through a court affidavit. That mismatch has led to his name being struck off the electoral rolls.

 

“Am I going to be banished? Should I just commit suicide?” he asks. “Where are the political leaders? Will they not help me because my name is no longer on the electoral rolls?” The questions hang in the air.

 

The reasons that brought them to Baharampur may vary, but the aim is the same — to show that they are not outsiders, but Indian citizens, entitled to their constitutional rights. Sina Bibi, 36, says her name was deleted from the electoral rolls after the Election Commission (EC) flagged the more than 50-year age gap between her and her father — a discrepancy that had gone unnoticed so far. Now she carries land documents belonging to her father and grandfather. “Let’s see how anyone denies I am from this place,” she says.

 

Forgotten land records resurface

 

In Murshidabad, which has seen the highest number of deletions, many are digging up land records to support their claims. Those who have them count themselves fortunate — but not everyone owns land.

 

Rijiya Bewa, 74, from the Suti Assembly constituency, is the only one in her family whose name has been struck off the electoral rolls. Her 30-year-old grandson was a minor the last time the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was conducted in West Bengal. In 2026, his name made it to the rolls because his grandmother’s name appeared in the earlier list. But that has not saved Rijiya’s own name. Now, her son has dug out family land records dating back to the 1940s to prove her claim. 

 

Around Rijiya’s house, many have had their names deleted from the rolls — the reasons differ, from mismatches in fathers’ names to other discrepancies. In Rebina Bibi’s case, six others share the same parentage.

 

It is perhaps unsurprising then that Suti ranks among the top 10 Assembly constituencies with the highest number of deletions.

 

The arithmetic of exclusion

 

Since the SIR process started, Bengal saw its electoral rolls shrink by over 9 million, representing 11.9 per cent of the electorate. Around 2.7 million were found to be “not eligible” after adjudication by judicial officers and can file appeals in appellate tribunals.

 

Murshidabad, where Muslims are 66.27 per cent of the population according to the 2011 Census, has seen the highest number of deletions at 455,137. In neighbouring Malda, also Muslim-dominated, 239,375 individuals were found to be “not eligible”. However, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) claims that of the roughly 9 million deleted names, 63 per cent belong to Hindus.

 

Stirrings of discontent

 

In 2021, the TMC secured nearly 54 per cent of the votes in Murshidabad district, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), received about 24 per cent.

 

However, the ruling party’s pitch may have been queered when its suspended MLA Humayun Kabir promised a mosque in Murshidabad styled on the Babri Masjid. Matters took another turn recently after an alleged sting video surfaced suggesting his links with the BJP, prompting Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to end its alliance with Kabir’s newly launched Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP).

 

But, TMC’s worries don’t end here. Even as CM Mamata Banerjee has vowed to fight to restore the electors’ rights, a sense of abandonment is surfacing among those who have been disenfranchised.

 

“It’s not just the EC’s whims that got my grandmother’s name deleted — the state failed too,” said Rijiya’s grandson, adding that there simply weren’t enough booth-level officers (BLOs).

 

Political analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury explained that those who are being disenfranchised fear they could eventually be ‘decitizenised’. “The question weighing on them then becomes: What future awaits them — detention camps or something else? While they cannot vote, their relatives and friends can, and their response could determine how far the political needle moves,” he said.

 

All eyes are now on the Supreme Court, which will hear on Monday a fresh plea, along with pending petitions challenging the EC’s decision to freeze electoral rolls in Bengal.