The Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) machinery in Bengal has thrown up a terrifying loop for at least four persons in Murshidabad’s Farakka.
Four legitimate in Farakka spent months trapped in the purgatory of the "under adjudication" list during the SIR process, submitted their documents and finally saw their names cleared. They went to polling stations on April 23 and cast their votes.
Now, they find themselves in the jaws of a fresh uncertainty.
An SIR application tribunal in Calcutta has summoned them to prove their citizenship all over again, triggering terror across a border district already tense over the new BJP government's instructions regarding setting up detention centers and chief minister Suvendu Adhikari's "detect-delete-deport" marching orders.
The notices, bearing the stamp of tribunal office No. 11 and signed by retired Justice Indrajit Chatterjee, initially directed the voters to travel to Calcutta on May 28.
Local block development officials later called them to appear at the block development office for hearings on June 4, realising that the May 28 scheduling conflicted directly with Eid al-Adha.
"I have been voting since 1970," said Akbar Ali Mirza, a 74-year-old resident of Ghorar Para village, his voice registering profound exhaustion and tension.
"This time (before the 2026 Assembly polls), my name came in the 'under adjudication' category. I was under immense tension. I submitted every single document they asked for, saw my name in the final list (of voters), and voted on April 23. I thought I finally had peace," he said. "Now this notice comes from Calcutta. I don't understand why they are harassing us like this."
The sheer structural incoherence of the exercise was reflected in the case of another voter in neighbouring Andua village.
Abdul Rashid, 57, managed to clear four members of his family through the SIR bottleneck, although the name of his younger son, Mizanur Rahman, was deleted.
While the young Mizanur moved the tribunal to reclaim his franchise, the system instead sent a summons to his father, Rashid, who had already voted.
"I never applied to any tribunal because my name was already corrected and printed in the final list," Rashid said, holding the latest summons that has thrown his household into disarray. "So why me? The Election Commission’s actions have deeply shaken us. The fear is real. We are terrified they will use this (the fresh summons) to strip our names away again."
Similar notices have disoriented Bijoy Mandal, 50, and Safia Bibi, 45, indicating a glitch in the electoral software.
The tribunal could also be operating on obsolete, pre-revision data, which revises the stakes for citizens who are verified as voters, a source said.
Contacted, Murshidabad district magistrate R. Arjun said an inquiry had been ordered. "The tribunal office should have never notified the names of those already published in the final voter list," district magistrate Arjun admitted. "We are investigating how this happened. I have ordered a deputy magistrate to conduct an immediate inquiry into the matter."