At election outreach, Purulia BJP MLA Sudip Mukherjee faces ire of excluded voters
Telegraph | 10 March 2026
Purulia BJP MLA Sudip Mukherjee faced the wrath of a few individuals whose names were omitted from the final voter list while he was interacting with local people on Monday as part of an outreach exercise ahead of the Assembly polls.
Some booth-level officers (BLOs) also joined the protest and complained to the MLA about harassment by residents whose names were deleted from the electoral roll.
“I found out that my father’s name had been deleted from the final voter list published by the Election Commission on February 28. I went to the district magistrate’s office to submit Form 6, but the officials advised me to apply online as the offline submission has not yet started. We have submitted it online, but are living in anxiety,” said Uttam Nandy.
BLO Rakhahari Dutta said seven names had been deleted from the final voter list in a particular booth.
“I properly submitted all necessary documents furnished by the voters. Even then, their names were omitted. They were poor families. I requested the MLA to do the needful to restore their voting rights,” he said
Dutta said a section of people whose names were omitted from the list were accusing him of not doing his job properly. “They are apprehensive that I didn’t submit the documents properly, and following that, their names were omitted. I am facing trouble,” he said.
They said the BJP MLA should find a solution to the issue. “Why are the common people being harassed in the name of the SIR? Why will we not be able to exercise our fundamental rights?” asked another resident whose name was deleted.
Mukherjee visibly felt embarrassed as the protests happened while he was interacting with the voters in the run-up to the elections.
However, Mukherjee held the Mamata Banerjee government responsible for the trouble arising out of the SIR.
“The state government didn’t provide data entry operators intentionally to invite trouble and malign the Election Commission. Some errors occurred during artificial intelligence mapping in the absence of data entry operators. Some genuine names were omitted. But the names can be restored to the list by submitting Form 6. At the behest of the state government, the district electoral officers are not doing their jobs properly,” said Mukherjee.
The Prulia district Trinamool Congress leadership said that every BJP leader in the state would have to face questions from the common people about the SIR.
“People whose names were omitted from the voter list complained that their father’s name had also been deleted. The names of other family members are not on the new list. Why are the common people being harassed in the name of the SIR even after submitting all necessary documents?” asked Gourav Singh, the district president of Trinamool’s youth wing.
The MLA admitted that the final electoral roll had excluded the names of some legitimate voters. “The state government and the district election office are responsible for this. However, we are with the legitimate voters. No Indian’s name will be omitted,” he said.