HUBBY NAME ERROR: 75-YR-OLD WIDOW HAS TO GET AFFIDAVIT
Times of India | 5 January 2026
Kolkata: A 75-year-old woman, who had voted from Rashbehari constituency in the last state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, was upset that she had to appear for a SIR hearing on Sunday at a school due to a discrepancy in her deceased husband's name. Despite suffering from various ailments, she went to the hearing venue. The ordeal continued as she was asked to produce an affidavit to rule out the discrepancy, arising out of the mismatch of her husband's name in the documents she had submitted.
The elderly woman, who was married at 13 and didn't get educated, came for the hearing with her daughter and son-in-law, who is a lawyer. Battling her health issues, she climbed a flight of stairs with her daughter's help.
She had received a hearing notice from her Booth Level Officer (BLO) after her husband's name was found to be incorrect in the form. The name of her deceased husband as printed on her voter card is Bakul Das and the woman had mentioned this on her enumeration form as well. But the voter card of the deceased husband has his name as Nanigopal Das. Subsequently, a discrepancy was raised during verification by the ERO
During the hearing, the woman brought the documents as per the list of 13 documents provided. But she was then asked to produce a document that could prove that her husband's name was Bakul. Alternatively, she was asked to bring an affidavit. "I cannot see properly. I have problems walking and climbing stairs. But I am having to do this just to remain a voter," the woman said.
She had shifted to her husband's house in Rashbehari constituency after marriage. "It saddens me that at this age, and after living in this country for 75 years, I have to come again and prove that I am a citizen of India who has every right to vote," she said.
She waited for nearly one hour at a classroom in the school. She sat on one of the plastic chairs arranged outside the classroom for the elderly. On whether the hearing-at-home option was given to her, she said, "Election people came to my locality to get a list of names. I gave mine, but I was called for a hearing regardless."