Md Yasin Mahaladar, 53, started practising as an advocate in West Bengal’s Malda district court from 2002, around the same time that the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was held. This time, his name has been deleted from the list – but his son’s is there.In the case of 28-year-old Khaleda Khatun, a gynaecologist at Murshidabad Medical College Hospital, she and four members of her family are not on the voters’ list.AdvertisementThese aren’t isolated cases – the lakhs of voters now removed from the state’s electoral list following adjudication include doctors, police officers, BSF jawans, advocates, farmers, daily wagers and migrants.Also Read | Software ‘ready’, office space to be ‘finalised’: Bengal SIR hits tribunal bump nowAs many as 37 lakh out of 60 lakh adjudication cases have been disposed of by a team of 705 judicial officers. Already, two supplementary lists have been released by the EC, though it has not officially stated how many have been deleted. According to official sources, more than 15 lakh voters’ names have been deleted so far from the state’s electoral roll.Tribunals are supposed to be set up to hear any objections, but those affected say that hasn’t happened, and time is running out.AdvertisementThe Indian Express travelled to Malda and Murshidabad districts, which have the largest numbers of adjudication cases — 8.28 lakh and 11 lakh respectively – and visited two villages with four booths.Also Read | Post SIR, Bengal’s female elector count hits 10-year low; gender ratio falls for first time in 13 years‘We’ve been here for generations’In the Bahadurpur Kabirajtala village in the Kaliachak block, under the Sujapur assembly seat in Malda, 327 names were deleted from the 444 under adjudication in booth 3. In booth 4, 422 names were deleted from the 527 under adjudication.Md Yasin Mahaladar said, “My father’s and my name were in the 2002 electoral list. I have been a practising lawyer since that year. Yet I was called for a hearing, where I shared my lawyer’s identity card, land deed and educational certificates. When the supplementary list was released, my name was not there. Strangely, my son’s name is there on the voters’ list.”“Nineteen tribunals are supposed to come up covering 23 districts of the state after the Supreme Court order. But the tribunals are yet to be set up. We have a 15-day window to appeal from the date of publication of the list. Already seven days are over,” he said. “It is impossible for the tribunal to dispose of appeals from lakhs of electors within the nomination period. Lakhs of genuine voters will then be kept out of the electoral process, which is not only illegal but also unconstitutional.”Also Read | SIR could roll back decades of progress in women’s political participationAt the local village market, such tales were not in short supply. Mainul Mahaladar (46) is an elected member of the Silampur 1 Gram Panchayat. After adjudication, his name, along with those of his parents and six brothers, has been deleted from the electoral list.“We were called for a hearing in January, where we submitted all the documents we had. But our names have been deleted. We have been living here for generations, and I am an elected panchayat member,” said Mainul.He said that villagers have called for a boycott of the elections unless the cases of deletion are heard.Nazmun Nahar Khatun, 42, is a local Selampur-I panchayat member whose name was deleted. The Congress member said, “My name was in the 2002 SIR list, but was mentioned as Lily Bibi. That is why I was called for a hearing. I submitted all the documents, including an affidavit from the court and panchayat documents stating that Lily Bibi and Nazmun Nahar Khatun are the same person. Even after that, my name was excluded. In my house, there are five voters. Only mine was deleted. My children’s names were included.”“They have deliberately deleted hundreds of names in our village,” she alleged. “I will go to the tribunal to challenge this decision – but this concerns the entire village.”Also Read | 13 lakh, 8 lakh or 14 lakh deletions? EC still quiet, different numbers fuel anxiety in BengalAnother constituency, same storyFifty kilometres from Sujapur assembly constituency, the Debipur area of Suti assembly constituency in Murshidabad has voters facing the same issue.In booth 111, a total of 291 names were deleted from the 591 under adjudication. In booth number 112, 207 names were deleted from the 361 under adjudication.The Indian Express found two doctors from the same family, an advocate, an assistant sub-inspector of Bengal Police, an English professor and a BSF jawan, among others, whose names have been deleted.Md Khairul Alam (33), a pharmacist and resident of booth 112, said, “My two brothers and a sister are doctors – one is a child specialist, one a gynaecologist, and one is doing an internship after finishing MBBS. The names of two of them were deleted even after they submitted their doctor registration certificates and other documents. They also have Madhyamik admit cards, birth certificates and 2002 linkage.”His sister Khaleda Khatun, whose name has been deleted, said, “I provided all documents; it is sad that I am not a voter anymore. They gave us no reason. I will challenge this with the tribunal. What other option do we have?”Also Read | ‘It’s very humiliating’: Former Calcutta HC judge Sahidullah Munshi to file appeal after name struck off Bengal voters’ listAn English professor at a government college, Mosab Ali (36), said, “We have nine voters in our family; the names of five were deleted, including my mother Fatema Bibi (58), who submitted a valid passport, and my brother Jahid Hossain (33), a practising lawyer.”Jahid said, “I am practising in the Jangipur court in Murshidabad district. I graduated in Sanskrit from Aligarh University and earned my MA from Burdwan University. I have also completed my B.Ed from Kashmir University and LLB from Madhusudan Law University in Odisha. I submitted all my documents and educational certificates.”Mosab Ali said, “My grandfather and great-grandfather were voters in the 1952 electoral roll. We submitted those documents as well. Our residence deed was made in 1945. Even after all this, five names from our family were deleted.”you may likeIn booth 111, Rezaul Karim (58), a police officer currently posted as sub-inspector at Panrui police station in Birbhum district, said, “I am a state government employee and submitted all my documents. I have no idea how the Election Commission still deleted my name.”BSF jawan Abdul Bari, a local resident and voter of booth 113, said, “In our family, five names have been deleted, including mine.”Local panchayat member Salim Reja said, “We were busy for the last three months filling forms and facilitating the hearing process for all voters in these two booths. We submitted all documents and repeatedly flagged all cases to the local ERO and AEROs. But even after that, more than fifty per cent of adjudication cases were deleted. It is not only illegal but very humiliating for these genuine voters.”