Protests, ranging from a hunger strike to a march, were witnessed here and at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district on Monday against the Election Commission, as a large number of voters were marked as “under adjudication” on the final electoral roll.

Udayan Guha, the north Bengal development minister and the local Trinamool Congress MLA, launched a 24-hour-long hunger strike beside the state highway and in front of the SDO’s office in Dinhata. Around 200 Trinamool leaders and workers joined the fast.

Addressing the gathering, Guha criticised the EC and the BJP, and alleged that a “conspiracy” had been hatched to deprive genuine citizens of their voting rights.

“Many people, who were born in the country and have been voting for years, have been placed in the ‘under adjudication’ category. It is creating mental pressure and fear among voters,” said the minister.

According to him, the situation is particularly concerning in the Dinhata Assembly constituency, where about 36,000 voters have been marked as “under
adjudication”.

“Members of the Muslim community, Rajbanshis, and people from former Bangladeshi enclaves who received citizenship after the India–Bangladesh land boundary agreement in 2015 have been disproportionately affected,” Guha added.

In Cooch Behar town, two social organisations — the Nasya Sheikh Unnayan Parishad (representing the Rajbanshi Muslims) and the All Bengal Imam-Muazzin Association — together held a march.

The procession started from the Raasmela Ground and passed through major roads before culminating in the district magistrate’s office.

A memorandum, addressed to the EC, was submitted to the district
administration.

The organisations said the “final” voter list published on February 28 included many valid Indian citizens in the “under adjudication” category, even after they submitted all necessary documents and completed the
hearing process.

Around 10,000 people participated in the procession, the organisers said.

Aminal Haque, the general secretary of the Parishad, accused the EC of harassing people in Bengal.

“It is the EC’s duty to protect the voting rights of the citizens. But it is now involved in processes that may deprive people of those rights,”
Haque said.

“We want to make it clear that the EC should not announce the Assembly elections in Bengal until the names of all legitimate Indian citizens, currently listed as ‘under adjudication’, are added to the final voter list,” he added.