Last-minute voters celebrate ‘hard-earned win’ on poll day
Times of India | 24 April 2026
Kolkata: With last-minute relief following the publication of appellate tribunal's supplementary list on Wednesday, a few of the 139 lucky voters, who lost hope, finally got their index fingers inked.
Ainul Miah, 30, from Cooch Behar, was able to cast his vote at a booth under the Sitalkuchi assembly constituency. Though Ainul's name was included, his sister could not vote because her matter is yet to be resolved. Ainul said, "We are six siblings. For that reason, my sister and I were called for a hearing, where we both submitted all valid documents, including the house deed, but no approval was granted. Today I am happy that I could finally vote, but my sister, who is also an eligible voter, could not cast her vote."
Ainul, however, went to the booth in the second half of the day to cast his vote and said, "As an eligible voter, this is my fundamental right, which I lost under the category of logical discrepancy, where I had no specific role. It is a great relief for me, but I am still concerned for my sister, while my other siblings and my father voted as their names are in the final roll." Hakim Miya and Parvina Bibi, a couple also from Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar, cast their votes in the first half of the day.
SK Kismat and SK Kurban, twin brothers whose names were deleted, also had their names included after the appellate tribunal's supplementary list was out.
Five out of seven members of the family had their names deleted. All five brothers' names had been removed, while three of them were included.
However, Kismat and Kurban appealed before the tribunal for inclusion, and 24 hours before the first phase of polling, both names were restored.
Kismat said, "We both went together to celebrate this hard-earned victory. We had submitted all valid proof at the time of the hearing, but none was accepted and all our names were deleted. We never thought that we would be able to vote this time. However, it is a relief for us that we could participate in the process."
Dhananjay Sardar, 30, who lives in a small village in Murshidabad and whose name was included on Wednesday, expressed relief after casting his vote, saying, "I was concerned even after my name was included, but everything went smoothly."
Biplab Majumder, a teacher from Malda, was not as lucky. Even after his name was included, he could not cast his vote as he was assigned poll duty at Karandighi in Uttar Dinajpur. He also missed the postal ballot voting scheduled on April 14, as at that time his voting right was still under question.