Mohammad Zakir Hossain Biswas spent hours pacing outside the tribunal at the district collectorate here for two days, but couldn’t find anyone to submit an application challenging the non-enrolment of his name on the supplementary list published by the Election Commission.

The medical representative from the Sujapur Assembly constituency thought his name would be re-included in the electoral roll once the tribunal heard his case.

“This is my second day here. My name was left out even though those of my family members were included in the voter list. I came to submit my documents, but there is no one to accept them. Two days have gone by… and tomorrow (Thursday) is a holiday for Ram Navami. I am worried,” he said, looking visibly distressed on Wednesday.

According to the direction from the EC, the Malda district administration readied a temporary facility where voters, whose names were not on the supplementary list, could submit their applications. The applications have to be submitted within 15 days of the publication of the supplementary list.

Biswas was not alone on Wednesday. Solaiman Sheikh, who is from the Englishbazar Assembly constituency, has been visiting the tribunal since Tuesday.

“I have to take leave from my job, but no one is here to receive the applications. It’s very frustrating,” Sheikh said.

Mer Ali Mahaldar, Jolly Khatun, Firoz Sultan and Mojiful Ali were also seen waiting for hours without clear guidance on how to submit their papers.

Wasim Akram, an advocate based in Chanchal who is offering free legal help to the unlisted voters, said: “Out of the 15 days given for filing appeals, 72 hours have already passed. I travelled 75km with documents for multiple clients, but could not get a concrete answer on where to submit them.”

Akram said he went to the office of the officer-in-charge of the district election cell.

“I did not get a suitable reply to my queries and was referred to another office in the district magistrate’s office building. I did not receive a reply there either. So I have to go back. Once the given time limit is over, these people would be in distress,” the lawyer added.

The Trinamool Congress, the Left Front and the Congress have demanded that the EC take immediate action to make the tribunal functional.

“These people are gripped by worry and fear and might make a detrimental decision. The BJP has been harassing the minority community in the name of the SIR (special intensive revision) through the EC. We want to know why the tribunal did not start functioning immediately after the first supplementary list was published,” said Abdur Rahim Boxi, the Malda district president of Trinamool.

Koushik Mishra, the district Left Front convener, said they would meet the administrative officials soon to know why the tribunal was yet to open.

“These people were voting for years together. Now they have to prove that they are citizens of India, and there is no one here to even accept their applications,” he said.

Isha Khan Choudhury, the Congress MP of Malda Dakshin, also criticised the EC for the plight of the people whose names were omitted from the voter list.

The BJP, however, said the tribunal would start working soon.

“None of these parties cooperated with the EC since the commencement of the SIR. We believe the tribunal will start its work soon,” said Nilanjan Das, the general secretary of the BJP in the Malda south (organisational district).

Officials of the district election department did not comment on the issue. Sarbeswar Mandal, the OC election, did not take the phone call.

“The matter will be looked into immediately. We are working according to the directions of the EC and the judiciary,” an administrative official said on condition
of anonymity.