Migrants’ fight for voting rights takes steep toll; poverty and SIR burden the workers
Telegraph | 5 April 2026
Saokat Ali has spent more than ₹11,000 on repeated trips between Kerala and his home in north Bengal since the revision of electoral rolls began.
He has already lost around 50 workdays, translating into wages of at least ₹40,000. Despite the financial strain and effort, his name has been struck off the electoral rolls.
Ali wants to know who will compensate him for his losses. Worse, with no clarity on the process ahead, the uncertainty continues to mount.
Ali, 55, a migrant worker from Malda, works as a mason in the construction sector in Kozhikode, north Kerala. He earns between ₹800 and ₹1,000 for a day’s work.
He is not alone. His experience reflects how migrant workers from some of Bengal’s poorest districts have been the most affected by the controversial SIR exercise.
Bengal has an estimated 25 lakh registered migrant workers employed outside the state, though activists believe the actual number is higher. Districts such as Murshidabad, Malda, Cooch Behar and North Dinajpur contribute a large share of this workforce.
These districts also report some of the highest rates of voters under adjudication, alongside high poverty levels.
Over the past few months, many migrant workers have travelled back from workplaces across India, fearing that missing the electoral roll revision could jeopardise their voting rights and even raise questions about their citizenship. Several have had to make multiple trips.
Ali was listed as a voter in Harishchandrapur, Malda, until February 28, when he was put under adjudication in the post-SIR rolls. On Thursday night, when the eighth supplementary list showed his name had been deleted.
“I can’t think straight now. There are too many questions and no answers. How do I file an appeal? Do I need a lawyer? Can I be present when my case is decided in the tribunal?” said Ali. “I never thought such a day would come.”
He had first returned home in late October to fill out the SIR enumeration form when the exercise began. He returned to work about a week later.
He came again in early February and has been in his village since, hoping to see his name restored on the rolls.
Samirul Islam, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP and head of the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board, said the scale of the crisis is difficult to assess due to the unorganised nature of migrant labour. “For these workers, no work means no pay. Not only have they been forced to spend heavily on travel, they continue to lose income while trying to reclaim their voting rights,” he said.
A Calcutta-based research institute pointed to a link between poverty and higher rates of scrutiny under the SIR.
“Several districts with a higher multidimensional poverty index, according to Niti Aayog data, also have higher shares of voters under adjudication. Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur are among them,” said Ashin Chakraborty of Sabar Institute.
“This suggests that lower-income groups are bearing a disproportionate burden of the SIR process,” he said.
Similar plight
Anesur Rahaman, 42, a voter from Bhagabangola in Murshidabad, has also been removed from the rolls.
He works for a railway contractor installing overhead equipment that powers trains and has been based in Lucknow for the past few months. He has worked on projects in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. He earns around ₹20,000 a month.
A mismatch in the spelling of his father’s name led to his disqualification as a voter.
In October, his wife filled out the enumeration form on his behalf. He later had to return home for a hearing on January 21, travelling back on January 18 and returning to work on January 28.
His name was placed under adjudication in the list published on February 28. He travelled home again in the second week of March and has stayed since. “I came for two reasons. I wanted to celebrate Eid with my family and also hoped to see my name cleared before returning to work,” said Rahaman.
During the SIR hearing, he submitted documents including his PAN, Aadhaar and a land deed registered in his father’s name.
He has spent around ₹7,000 on three recent trips.
The Migrant Labourer Unity Forum has set up helplines in Murshidabad and Malda to assist those whose names have been deleted or placed under adjudication.
“The Election Commission has not shared detailed data on those deleted or under adjudication. There is no way to estimate how many migrant workers have been removed, but we are receiving around 300 calls every day in each district,” said Asif Faruk, the forum’s state general secretary.
A former public administrator with decades of experience in Bengal said the crisis reflects deeper inequities. “The implications of the contentious SIR exercise go beyond politics. The State’s class, caste and community bias is reflected in its inability to reach the most marginalised sections in any government exercise. This same pattern is now visible in electoral surveillance,” the official said.
“When political agenda combines with this historical socio-cultural bias, you have millions staring at disenfranchisement.”