A former Subedar Major of the Indian Army who had served in key military engagements is gearing up for another battle — to prove his eligibility as a Bengal voter.
Forty-nine-year-old Azad Ali, who was part of Operations Vijay in Kargil (1999), Parakram (2001-02) and Sindoor (2025), has been struck off the poll rolls following the SIR.
A resident of Ramchandrapur village at Baduria in North 24-Parganas, Ali is losing hope of casting his vote in the second phase of the elections on April 29.
“This is very shocking and quite unexpected,” Ali said. “For about 30 years, I fought for the country and took part in at least three major missions. I also served on the India-China border after the Galwan clash. Despite being a soldier, I could establish my credentials as a citizen or a voter.”
The former serviceman, who retired in October last year from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers — a critical combat support arm of the army — is preparing to appear before the tribunal at the district magistrate’s office in Barasat to reclaim his status as a voter.
The SIR axe has, however, spared all 14 other members of Ali’s family.
Administrative sources indicated that a discrepancy in Ali’s surname might have contributed to the deletion. His name reportedly appeared as “Azad Ali Mondal” in the 2002 SIR list. He later dropped “Mondal”, leading to a mismatch during scrutiny.
In the preliminary list published on February 28, he was placed in the “under adjudication” category. Ali said he submitted all necessary documents to prove that Azad Ali Mondal and Azad Ali were the same person, but was shocked at his exclusion from the second supplementary list published on March 27.
Prodded about the reason behind the deletion, a district election official told this newspaper that the surname discrepancy could not be sorted. “His surname mismatch created a problem. Thus, he was put in the ‘under adjudication’ category and later deleted,” he said.
Ali’s military career, which began in 1995, saw him rise to the rank of Subedar Major, the senior-most post among junior commissioned officers. His participation in landmark military operations has earned him respect in his locality.
The incident is the latest in the list of alleged procedural lapses that have marked the implementation of SIR in Bengal. In several pockets of the state, residents have complained of names being put in the “under adjudication” section or deleted despite submission of valid documents, forcing them to repeatedly approach the authorities and tribunals.
“I have been living here for a long time. Both my father’s and my name were on the 2002 list. Even then, I had submitted additional documents, but failed to get my name included in the rolls,” he said, describing the experience as “humiliating”.
“While dealing with cases of people like me who are in the army fighting to protect the security and sovereignty of the country, the Election Commission should have been a little careful,” he said.
Ali’s neighbour Tariqul Islam said he was a respectable person and it was “beyond our imagination that a person who served 30 years to protect the nation can be struck off from the voters’ list in such a way”.
Ali’s daughter Simran, a Class X student, said: “My father fought for the country, yet he could not be a voter. This is ridiculous.”
The Trinamool Congress candidate from Baduria, Burhanul Muqaddim, alleged a pattern behind such exclusions. “It is quite unfortunate to see that a political party, which often showcases the achievements and sacrifices of the army, did not even care when the name of a war hero from our locality was struck off. This reflects a typical agenda of the BJP to brand Muslims as outsiders or Bangladeshis, even if he is an armyman,” he said.