Kamalika Sengupta
‘Vote theft’ finally caught! Yes, don’t be surprised. During the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal, such a game has been exposed which will be difficult to believe. When the scanning started there, the voter list itself appeared mysteriously changed. The name of the same woman was registered at 44 places. She is voting with different surnames in different assembly constituencies. Like in Howrah her name is Mayrani Rai and in Bankura her name is Mayrani Mur. Mayrani is Pramanik in Mandirbazar of South 24 Parganas and Mayrani is Naya in Kulpi of South 24 Parganas. In North 24 Parganas, she is registered in the name of Mayrani Mandal, while in Burdwan, she is registered in the name of Mayrani Kongar… that means only one woman is a voter in these 44 places.
During the SIR process, scanning the QR code of the same enumeration form revealed that the name of the same woman was simultaneously present in the voter list of 44 different assembly constituencies. Her husband’s name is also included in all the voter lists, but the surname is different everywhere. Such a case of voter-card fraud has come to light in booth 47 of Pandaveshwar assembly constituency of West Burdwan. West Burdwan District Magistrate Ponnamalam S. Said, the complaint is being investigated. There is a stir in West Burdwan regarding Mayrani’s case. Mayrani is a cook by profession. BJP has alleged that Trinamool Congress has similarly added fake names in the voter list across the state. The Election Commission has started investigation.
One scan revealed the truth
Widow Mayrani Goswami lives in DVC area of Pandaveshwar assembly constituency of West Burdwan. She is a voter of booth 47. When the BLO scanned the QR of his enumeration form, it was found that he was registered as a voter at 44 different places across the state. However, Mayrani did not seem surprised by this. He doesn’t even understand its full meaning. She earns her living by cooking food from door to door and lives in a government house.
I don’t know anything. From the beginning I have been voting in Baidyanathpur school only. My name was removed from the voter list during the previous government, that’s all I know. I earn my living by cooking food at people’s homes. I don’t know what I should do. Everyone filled the SIR form, so I also filled it. Now people are coming and asking me questions. But many people are saying that I need not be afraid.
-Mayrani Goswami, Voter West Burdwan
BJP said- TMC misused the poor
BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari claimed that the SIR process has brought out the truth. He says that without this such cases would never have come to light. He said that it is worrying to think that the names of so many poor and weak people might have been misused in this way. He demanded a thorough investigation into it.
Ages also appear to be different
According to sources, widow Mayrani Goswami is in a very weak financial condition. She earns her living by cooking food at others’ homes. It is alleged that on scanning the QR code of the SIR form, his name was found associated with different identities in many districts from North Dinajpur to Gosaba in South 24 Parganas. His first name Mayrani was the same everywhere, but the surname kept changing. Somewhere Mandal, somewhere Rai, somewhere Ghosh, somewhere Naya. His identity was repeated in many forms. Besides, his age was also shown differently in different places in the voter list.
What are experts saying
Election experts say that 44 fake identities emerging from a single scan cannot be a case of a simple mistake. This clearly points to an organized fraud network. Now the biggest question is how will the Election Commission resolve this matter and what further steps will it take.
