Mathabhanga villagers block highway over missing names
Times of India | 5 November 2025
Jalpaiguri: Protesting the implementation of SIR in their village, some residents of Dangkopa village in Cooch Behar's Mathabhanga staged a road blockade on the Mathabhanga–Maynaguri state highway on Tuesday.
They demanded every voter in the village be declared valid.
The village has around 856 voters, of whom 421 have their parents' names in the 2002 list.
"When netas of a party claim that in each booth, 500 names will be eliminated, and then incidents of names from the 2002 electoral roll go missing, it naturally sparks doubts. EC should publish the complete 2002 list," said Girindranath Barman, chairman of Cooch Behar TMC.
"Such incidents will go up and TMC will be responsible for this. The CM has turned her back on the Constitution and is instigating people despite knowing very well that the EC will go by the books. The fact that SIR will take a toll on her Bangladeshi vote bank has left her restless," said Bapi Goswami, BJP's party coordinator for north Bengal.