Siliguri and the hill town of Mirik witnessed protests on Friday against the deletion of voters’ names from the preliminary “final” list published on February 28 as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) drive.

In Siliguri, the Left Front organised a sit-in demonstration at Hashmi Chowk. Around 50km away, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and the Trinamool Congress held a rally and submitted a memorandum to the block development office in Mirik.

Darjeeling district CPM secretary Saman Pathak said over 1.44 lakh names were either deleted or placed in the “under adjudication” category in the district. According to him, most of those names are of marginalised people and residents of rural areas and tea gardens.

“The SIR had been conducted in 2002 as well, but at that time, there was no controversy. But this time, it has been implemented by the Election Commission to fulfill the agenda of the RSS. We held an eight-hour-long sit-in demonstration today in protest against the SIR. From tomorrow (Saturday), we will conduct similar protests at the block-level,” Pathak said.

Asok Bhattacharya, a veteran CPM leader and the former MLA of Siliguri, asked whether the EC intended to conduct the Assembly polls at all in the state.

“We will resist any process to delete any genuine voter’s name from the electoral roll,” Bhattacharya said.

In Mirik, BGPM leaders submitted a memorandum to the local BDO. Along with Trinamool leaders, they took out a march to the BDO’s office, carrying placards.

The BGPM, led by Anit Thapa, is an ally of Trinamool.

Arun Sigchi, a BGPM leader and member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), said the party was not against the SIR but only questioned the hastily conducted process.

“We will reach out to the residents, whose names were deleted or are under adjudication, through camps and door-to-door visits. We will collect their documents and submit the same to the district election officer (DEO)’s office,” Sigchi said.

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has sent a letter to chief electoral officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal, requesting him to “urgently review” and “re-verify” all the cases of deletion and adjudication through the formation of special teams at the block level.

“I have received many
complaints and representations from people of my constituency regarding the SIR, especially after the publication of the final electoral roll on February 28. In view of the seriousness of the matter, I have requested the CEO to review and re-verify all the cases of deletion and
adjudication,” said Bista.

‘Suicide’ blamed on SIR

A 28-year-old, who had consumed poison two days ago after seeing that his name was “under adjudication” on the preliminary “final” list in Cooch Behar, died on Friday.

Saminur Mian was a farmer at Kalapani village in the Cooch Behar 2 block.

Sources said the names of Mian and some other family members had been placed “under adjudication” on the final roll. “He had been under mental stress since then and was apprehensive of losing his citizenship. On Wednesday, he consumed poison at home,” his brother Najrul
Islam said.

After the suicide attempt, Mian was rushed to the MJN Medical College and Hospital in Cooch Behar for treatment. He died on Friday morning.

Additional reporting by our
Cooch Behar correspondent