As Bengal Votes in Phase One, Its Deleted Migrant Labourers Are in No-Man's Land

Murshidabad (Bengal): How many voters in Bengal, whose cases were disposed of by the tribunal, have ultimately regained their voting rights? Only 136.

In the first phase of polling, across 152 constituencies in 16 districts of the state, well over 14 lakh individuals remain on the exclusion list after being kept under adjudication. Voting in these constituencies is scheduled today, April 23.

According to the directives of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission is required to publish a supplementary list two days prior to polling, including those applicants who are deemed eligible voters following tribunal decisions. It did, only 24 hours ahead of the polls.

What lies ahead for the lakhs who are not among the 136? They will, despite being born and raised in this country, remain excluded from the rights of citizenship? In the week leading up to the day of polling, uncertainty and fear gripped entire households.

A return, but for what?

Suiti Khatun, a homemaker from Beliya Shyampur village under Bhagwangola I block in Murshidabad district, waited anxiously for answers as uncertainty loomed over her husband’s voting rights. Her husband, Ibrahim Sheikh, 40, who has been working in Chennai, had boarded a train to return home to be able to vote, when The Wire visited the home.

Ibrahim's name was recently removed from the voter list after the SIR, leaving the family in distress. Earlier, Ibrahim was listed at serial number 716 in booth number 140 of the Bhagwangola assembly constituency, his family told this reporter.

Authorities had stated that a final decision on whether those whose names were struck off would be allowed to vote would be known on April 21. So on April 21, Suiti visited the Bhagwangola block office twice, standing in line from morning to late afternoon, hoping to find out if her husband’s name had been reinstated.

Suiti Khatun shows her husband’s SIR form. Her husband Ibrahim Sheikh’s name has been deleted from the electoral rolls. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

But as the day wore on, she received no answers. By evening, uncertainty hung heavy. Meanwhile, her husband, on his way home, kept calling repeatedly to ask whether his name had been restored. Suiti had no response to give.

“He is not returning for a job, or for gold or for money. It is just for a single vote that we are going through such turmoil. Will the government take away even this basic right from the poor like us?” Suiti said.

Suiti appeared exasperated by the fact that her husband had to move away from home to earn a living and also that he had to return amidst such mental anguish.

Also read: Bengal SIR: What the Patterns of Exclusion for Muslim, Scheduled Caste and Urban Voters Say

"If there had been food and livelihood here, would he have needed to go so far away? There was no work given to us, and now even the right to vote is being taken away. What kind of government is this? Do they not consider poor people as human beings? Are we not citizens of India?” she asked.

On the morning of April 22, Suiti would discover that Ibrahim's name is indeed not on the list of eligible voters.

Ibrahim Sheikh’s mother Sulekha Bibi. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

On the eve of the West Bengal Assembly elections, her simple yet profound question echoes in the minds of several lakh people across the state: Are we not citizens of this country?

The situation appears even more alarming in Murshidabad. The district is home to nearly 11 lakh migrant labourers. Among them, around 4,55,000 people have reportedly had their names removed through the SIR process, many of whom have been casting their votes for generations. For these individuals, the removal of their names from the electoral rolls has come as a shock.

“Is there any reasonable explanation for why our names have been struck off?” asked Hasan Ali, a middle-aged resident of Beliya Shyampur village, whose name has been removed from the voter list. Countless affected residents echoed this question. Their voices are marked by confusion and distress.

Their questions underline a growing sense of disenfranchisement as they seek answers at a crucial democratic moment.

Migrant labourers

Murshidabad district is home to nearly 11 lakh migrant labourers, of whom approximately 4,55,000 have reportedly had their names removed from the electoral rolls. A significant number of those affected are concentrated in the Samserganj, Lalgola, and Bhagwangola assembly constituencies.

Also read: In Samserganj, SIR Exclusions Have Altered the Electoral Field Even Before Votes Are Cast

These figures were shared with The Wire by Mahammad Kamal Hossain, district secretary of the West Bengal Migrant Workers Union in Murshidabad and a resident of Beliya Shyampur in the Bhagwangola constituency. According to him, nearly 66,000 migrant workers in Samserganj, around 55,000 in Lalgola, and approximately 40,000 in Bhagwangola have had their names removed through the SIR process.

This reporter visited Beliya Shyampur in Murshidabad to witness the situation firsthand. What I encountered was overwhelming. A Sealdah-Lalgola train arrived so crowded that there was barely any space to stand inside the compartments.

At Berhampore Court station, thousands of migrant labourers – men between the ages of 18 and 70 – were seen disembarking, returning from different parts of the country. Among them were those whose names remain on the electoral rolls and those whose names have been removed.

Despite so many passengers getting down, there was still no space inside the train coaches as many others continued their journey further into Murshidabad, Jiaganj, Bhagwangola, and Lalgola.

Piyarul Sheikh, a migrant labourer of Lalgola. His name has been deleted from the voter list. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

Beliya Shyampur, a village located about five kilometres from Bhagwangola, presents a stark picture of migration and hardship. The village is predominantly inhabited by poor families from the minority Muslim community, and nearly every household has at least one member who has left home in search of work as a migrant labourer.

Most have travelled to states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Odisha in search of livelihood. According to local accounts, the village has around 480 migrant workers, of whom as many as 173 have reportedly had their names removed from the voter list.

Among those whose names have been struck off is Hasan Ali from the village’s Majhpara area. He works as a daily wage labourer in road construction in Odisha and returned to his village only a few days ago.

While his name has now been removed from the voter list, he Hasan is caught in limbo as this is being cited by his employer in Odisha to deprive him of a job. “We used to work there in constant fear. Being Bengali-speaking Muslims, we were often stopped and humiliated in public spaces like roads and markets by people associated with the Bajrang Dal. We were branded as Bangladeshis.”

He added that the situation worsened after the SIR process began in Bengal. “Their intimidation increased further. They threatened us, saying this time they would drive us out of the country, calling us enemies of the nation," he said.

Hasan said that he rushed back to his village soon after the SIR process began in West Bengal. “I took two days’ leave from work and returned home. I filled out the SIR forms and submitted them to the BLO,” he said.

A few days into the SIR exercise, Hasan learnt that his family's names were flagged as a "logical discrepancy" because his father had six children. “But in reality, my father has only five. Where did the officials get this information about a sixth child?” he asked.

Hasan's father attended the hearing at the Bhagwangola block office with necessary documents. “The officials told him everything was fine and that there was no need to come again. They assured us that all our names would remain on the voter list,” he said. However, when the revised list was published on April 6, Hasan's name and that of his younger sister, Jaba Khatun, had been deleted.

Hasan’s sister Jaba Khatun shows her voter ID card. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

“I was listed under serial number 699 in part 140 of the Bhagwangola assembly constituency. I have voted for many years. Now the Election Commission has removed my name. Why?” he asked.

According to him, officials at the block office have been unable to provide any explanation, deepening his sense of injustice.

Hasan shared another troubling account.

“I work in the Baripada area of Odisha. The contractors there have come to know that many of us no longer have our names on the voter list,” he said. “They have started telling us that if we are not voters, then we must be Bangladeshis. Because of that, they are threatening to stop giving us work. They say we can return only if we can prove that we have voted.”

Hasan pointed out that work under MGNREGA has come to a halt. “If it were still functioning, we could have survived here,” he said. Blaming both the Union and state governments, he added, “It is because of their failures that we have been pushed into this situation. Who will answer for this?”

He further remarked, “We have become victims of the political tussle between the BJP and the TMC.”

Hasan Ali’s father, Ainul Haque, said he has been voting for the last 50 years. "Even during the SIR process in 2002, there was never any problem. So why this time?” he asked. “Have the names of poor people like us been deliberately removed?”

Hasan Ali 'sparents Ainul Haque and Golsenara Bibi. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

In the neighbouring village of Asanpara, as many as 192 names have been deleted from the electoral rolls. Of them, 160 are migrant workers, including local resident Rabiul Ali, who works in Maharashtra.

The land and its people

The assembly constituencies of Samserganj, Lalgola, and Bhagwangola lie along the India-Bangladesh border, forming a fragile frontier shaped by geography and hardship. Across the Padma River lie Godagari, Chapai Nawabganj, and other regions of Rajshahi district in Bangladesh.

Every year, floods submerge entire villages, leaving behind destruction and uncertainty. Residents allege that despite recurring devastation, both the Union and state governments have remained largely indifferent to the urgent need for measures to prevent erosion by the Padma. “Even after repeated disasters, there has been little response,” locals say.

Traditionally, agriculture, particularly paddy and jute cultivation, has been the backbone of livelihoods here. But that foundation has steadily eroded. “With falling jute prices and Union government policies, jute cultivation has declined sharply,” said Hasan Sheikh, a migrant worker from Samserganj.

He explained that due to border fencing regulations, cultivation of tall crops is prohibited within 100 metres of the international border. “As a result, jute farming has almost stopped,” he said.

With agriculture no longer viable, many residents have been forced to migrate in search of work. The number of migrant labourers has increased further since the COVID-19 pandemic, as rural employment opportunities declined.

The anxiety is not limited to those whose names have been struck off. Even those who remain on the voter list are gripped by uncertainty.

Liaquat Hossain, 41, a resident of Diyar Jali Bagicha village, said he works in Maharashtra. “If I can show that I have voted, I will be able to get work again. This is why I have come back here with great difficulty, just to cast my vote,” he said. “But for those whose names have been deleted, no one knows whether they will be able to find work again.”

He referred to a recent speech by Union home minister Amit Shah in Cooch Behar, where he warned that those whose names do not appear on the voter list would be expelled from the country. “We have seen what happened in Assam,” Liaquat said.

He also expressed disappointment with the state government. “The chief minister had said she would not allow the SIR process in Bengal. But she could not stop it. We have no faith left. Who will guarantee our safety?” he asked.

Amid this climate of fear, he pointed to a local figure who has emerged as a source of hope. “We have seen a local housewife, Mostari Banu of Beliya Shyampur, consistently raising her voice against the SIR process from the beginning,” he said.

Many residents now say their hope rests on her.

Mostari Banu shows her documents. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

The unending struggle of Mostari Banu

Since last August, it had been widely circulated by the BJP that the names of 1 crore 28 lakh voters in Bengal would be struck off the rolls. Hearing this, villagers were thrown into anxiety.

“My husband, Kamal Hossain, is associated with a migrant workers’ organisation. He would receive constant calls from workers and their families,” said Mostari Banu. “I began speaking with the women in my village. We felt that something had to be done.”

During this period, a tragic incident deepened the shock. A young migrant worker, Jule Rana, died while rushing back from Chennai to fill out his SIR form.

“On November 11, I moved the Supreme Court and filed a case,” she said. The case was registered as No. 1089/2025. On January 19, the Supreme Court directed that Aadhaar cards, along with 11 other documents, be accepted for the SIR process.

She said that the names of all eligible voters have still not been fully included in the list. “However, this movement will continue,” she added firmly.

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