The Cooch Behar district witnessed road blockades and protests on Monday over discrepancies in the supplementary electoral roll (SER), with residents alleging that their names had not yet appeared on the additional list.

Hundreds of residents blocked the Cooch Behar–Mathabhanga state highway for over five hours, demanding that their names be included in the electoral roll. The blockade was raised at Ghughumari, a prominent crossing on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town.

The protesters called for the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging negligence by the Election Commission.

The blockade, which commenced around 9am, led to long traffic snarls, causing significant disruption for daily commuters. A large police contingent was posted in the area. Around 2.30 pm, the protesters dispersed.

While the blockade was going on, supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP confronted each other on the nearby Torsha river bridge. Weilding black flags, the Trinamool supporters stopped the car of Rathindra Nath Bose, the BJP candidate of Cooch Behar South.

At the same time, the convoy of Trinamool candidate Abhijit De Bhowmik, accompanied by actor-turned MP Deb, was passing along the same stretch.

Supporters of the two parties shouted slogans and counter-slogans and entered into an altercation. However, police managed to control the situation and facilitated the movement of vehicles on either side.

Sources said the names of 196 voters at booth 4/144, which is at Charbari-Kalirpat in Ghughumari panchayat, were not found on the latest supplementary roll published on Sunday.

Similar protests were held in some areas of the Dinhata Assembly constituency, including Burirhat, Nazirhat, Chowdhurihat, and Bamanhat, where residents staged sit-ins and road blockades, warning of continued agitation if their names were not included in the electoral roll.

The blockades on different local roads continued for two to three hours.

At Atpukuri in the Mathabhanga 2 block of the district, a four-hour blockade from 8am halted traffic along the Falakata–Mathabhanga road.

Local people said the names of 663 voters remained unaccounted for.

When the blockade continued, officials from the block development officer’s office, Ghoksadanga police and paramilitary personnel reached the spot. The officials assured the residents that no one would lose their voting rights and that the issues would be resolved in accordance with proper procedures. After the assurance, the protests were called off.

Girindranath Barman, the chairman of the Trinamool Congress’s Cooch Behar district committee, said the protests proved that the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list was being carried out in a hurry. “We will not let the EC delete the name of any genuine voter,” he added.

Biraj Bose, a district vice-president of the BJP, said: “We also want the names of every genuine voter on the electoral roll. Trinamool is fast losing its ground and is thus inciting people to stage blockades and create tension in the district ahead of the polls.”