'Conducting Polls But Can't Vote': 65 Election Duty Officers Deleted From Bengal SIR List

The top court responded as it had for the estimated 27.1 lakh men and women left in limbo this month while poll officials heard pleas against their names being struck off the list.

In an ironic twist of fate, 65 poll officials appealed to the Supreme Court Friday after their names were struck off the voter list for the Bengal election - an exercise mired in controversy after the Election Commission-ordered revision of rolls led to a purge of 90.8 lakh individuals.

The top court responded as it had for the estimated 27.1 lakh men and women left in limbo this month while poll officials heard pleas against their names being struck off the list.

They were directed to the appellate tribunal and told they too could not vote this time.

That prompted an anguished appeal from Senior Advocate MR Shamshad. "These are 65 petitioners who are on election duty... their duty orders mention EPIC (voter ID) numbers."

"But now those numbers have been deleted. Now the persons conducting this election cannot vote! This is arbitrary... many were not given reasons," he said, echoing complaints made by several of the 27.1 lakh voters who complained after finding their names dropped from the roll.

"Make these arguments before the appellate tribunal..." Chief Justice Surya Kant said.

"Appropriate orders will be passed by the tribunal... in this election, yes, perhaps they can't vote. But the more valuable right to remain on the rolls shall be preserved," Justice Joymalya Bagchi, also on the bench, said.

The revision of voter lists in poll-bound states, beginning with Bihar last year and extending to Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala this year, has been a fiercely controversial topic, with the opposition accusing the Election Commission and the BJP of colluding to disenfranchise lakhs of voters, specifically from marginalised communities, who might otherwise vote for them.

The first phase of the Bengal election was held on Thursday and, on paper, a record 92.8 per cent voter turnout was recorded. However, the scrubbing of 90.8 lakh voters from the state rolls, experts have argued, skewed the baseline and inflated the turnout percentage, which has been held up by the opposition BJP as a signal of massive anti-incumbency before Phase 2.

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Bengal Assembly Election, Supreme Court, Bengal SIR