Kolkata: A general physician and owner of one of the port area's most prominent nursing homes, also an ex-Trinamool MLA, will not be able to vote this time — along with four of his family members — thanks to SIR. The former legislator, Abul Kasem Molla, is shocked that the SIR has snatched voting rights from him and his four children.
Molla has now applied to the tribunal for a hearing for himself and his four kin.
Molla, popularly known as Dr Kasem in the Ekbalpore neighbourhood, had contested the assembly election thrice on a Trinamool ticket, winning once. A resident of 11/1B Devi Choudhary Road under the Kolkata Port constituency for over three decades, he was elected from Jagatballavpur and served as its MLA between 2011 and 2016. The only member in the six-member Kasem family to clear the SIR test is his wife Farhat.
He is, however, more known for the nursing home he set up in 2004. "I have been a legislator from Jagatballavpur from 2011 to 2016. I was shocked to find my name along with that of my four children under adjudication. Now our names have been deleted. The only reason I can think of is my association with Trinamool," Molla told TOI.
An original native of Howrah's Jagatballavpur, Kasem had shifted to Kolkata over 30 years ago. His nomination papers in 2006, 2011 and 2016 mention the Kidderpore address as his residence. Even till last LS poll in 2024, all six family members voted from the same constituency.
During the enumeration procedure, Kasem's son Sohail and daughters Shabana, Naushin and Naureen were mapped along with Kasem as their father, while Kasem was mapped with his deceased father. His wife Farhat was mapped with her father.
"I wonder if the tribunal can restore our right as there is less than two weeks left to the polling," he added.
"Of all the deletions from the port area, around 70% is from the minority community," said Babloo Karim, vice president of TMC Minority Cell in south Kolkata.