BSF and SSB Brothers Face Voter List Deletion, Receive Postal Ballots After Tribunal Appeal
In a surprising turn of events, two brothers from Bhagwangola in Murshidabad district, one serving with the Border Security Force (BSF) and the other with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), received postal ballots days after their names were deleted during the adjudication process of the ongoing Summary Revision of the Electoral Roll (SIR). The incident has left their family members bewildered and raised questions about the Election Commission's procedures.
Deletion During SIR Process Despite Tribunal Appeal
The brothers, identified as Kamal Sk, currently working with the SSB in Uttar Pradesh, and Saddam Hossain, posted with the BSF in Tripura, had moved the tribunal for the inclusion of their names two weeks prior to the deletion. According to their uncle, Tajrul Islam, the names of two other siblings were also deleted on grounds of logical discrepancy during the SIR process. Their father, Abul Kalam, however, managed to retain his place on the list. All four of his children, including three sons and a daughter, were removed.
Tajrul Islam expressed frustration, stating, "The EC has followed no logic while deleting names. My mother, Nabia Bewa, 93, was also deleted." He highlighted that his nephews appeared in the hearing and returned home to process their appeals for the tribunal. He questioned how the names of individuals serving in paramilitary forces could be deleted, especially since both brothers were on poll duty during the Bihar assembly elections in November. He described it as ridiculous that their names were deleted now and not corrected during the adjudication process.
EC Official Cites Possible Technical Glitch
An Election Commission official provided a potential explanation, noting that for an assembly seat, the voter list is divided into two parts: one for general voters and another for service voters. The official suggested that the brothers' names might have been deleted from the general voter part but still existed in the service voter part, which requires verification. "There has been no SIR or adjudication for service voters. We will seek a report from the concerned District Election Officer. There can be a technical glitch," the official said.
He further explained, "There is a record of the 'service voters' with the EC for each assembly seat. It is possible that without verifying the deletion list, postal ballots were sent to the units of these jawans."
BLO Points to Discrepancy in Records
Wasim Akram, the Booth Level Officer (BLO), stated that the names of the two brothers were deleted despite submitting all necessary papers. He cited a discrepancy in their grandmother's name as an example: in the 2002 SIR list, she is mentioned as Nabia, but in 2025, her name is listed as Nabia Bewa. "So, there is a discrepancy and on that ground her name was deleted," Akram said.
He added, "I was informed by one of the jawans that he had got a postal ballot, but I don't know how he got it. In my booth, there were 838 voters and 407 were placed under the logical discrepancy category. It is difficult to explain why they got deleted." The brothers could not be contacted for further comments.
This incident underscores ongoing challenges in the voter list revision process, particularly for service personnel, and calls for greater scrutiny to prevent such errors in the future.
