Murshidabad/Kolkata, India —
Sadre Alam fought a war for India. Suprabuddha Sen’s grandfather explained its first constitution. For decades, both men exercised their right to vote enshrined in that document in the world’s largest democracy.
Days before voting began in a crucial state election in April, they learned their rights had been stripped away. There was little to no explanation.
Alam, 62, opens a thick maroon binder containing some 30 documents he says he submitted to local authorities to persuade them to vote. Evidence that his parents voted decades ago. his discharge certificate. It was a waste.
Indians excluded from voter rolls struggle to understand why
“It feels strange to think that my country is not mine today,” the former soldier told CNN from his home in West Bengal state. The state is currently counting votes from the election in which he was excluded. “That’s what pains me. People ask me, ‘Why was your name excluded if you were in the military?’
Mr Alam and Mr Suprabuddha are among the more than 9 million names selected from West Bengal’s voter rolls. Millions more were deleted across the country, just before multiple state elections were held across the country, and just before it was determined whether the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could advance into state legislatures in southern and eastern India, where it has traditionally struggled to win power.
The BJP says cleaning up the voter list is essential to remove duplicates, deceased names and other discrepancies and maintain the integrity of India’s democracy. Critics claim that the Election Commission of India (ECI), which is supposed to be an independent body, is acting at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party to promote majoritarian policies and weaken the representation of India’s Muslim minority.
That has made the debate over voter rolls particularly intense in West Bengal, where nearly a third of the country’s 90 million-strong population is Muslim and where the Bharatiya Janata Party has gained strength in recent years.
A few days before voting began, Alam was informed that his name was not on the voter list because authorities found a “logical inconsistency” in the 15-year age difference between him and his mother on record.
Suggesting a contradiction is an insult, says a former soldier who served in India’s brief 1999 war with its neighbor and arch-rival Pakistan.
“My grandfather married a 14-year-old daughter in early 1963, and I was born later that year in December,” he said.
“Where is my fault in this? So is there any doubt that I am not my mother’s child? Was I picked up from somewhere?”
Suprabuddha Sen, 88, was never even told why he lost the right to vote, which he had held for decades.
It was all the more poignant given his personal involvement in the foundations of India’s democratic system after independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
His grandfather’s illustrations of Indian history and culture adorn the Indian Constitution. The iconic four lion emblem, the government’s official letterhead and on the cover of each Indian passport, was designed by one of his students under his guidance.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t vote,” said his wife, Deepa Sen. She was also removed from the voter list without explanation.
Suprabuddha told CNN he submitted graduation records, state pension documents and even an expired passport, but authorities were unmoved.
“I don’t know what else I can give them after that.”
Of the names removed from West Bengal’s voting list, about 2.4 million have died, leaving about 6.7 million names, according to the Savar Institute, a public policy and research organization.
Data on how many of those people are eligible is difficult to obtain, but CNN has heard from more than a dozen voters who say they were removed from the list and were unable to get back on it due to unclear rules and reluctant local officials.
“The BLOs (officials who staff the polling booths) cannot even explain to us the reason,” said Mahbud Hussain, a sweets vendor in Murshidabad district.
“They say there’s nothing they can do and it’s up to the Supreme Court to decide what happens.”
“As far as we can understand here, they are specifically targeting Muslims and excluding them even though their names are there and they have all the documents. They are the only ones who know what they are doing…We cannot understand it.”
According to the Savar Institute, 34% of the names removed from West Bengal’s voter list are Muslims, who make up 27% of the state’s population.
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that West Bengal’s election schedule should not be delayed, although those removed from the voter list have the right to appeal.
“This is a political gimmick. The Election Commission is acting on the orders of the Bharatiya Janata Party government,” said Sajid Rahman, a social activist with the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR).
The BJP says it is not interfering with ECI’s work. CNN has contacted the ECI and India’s Ministry of Home Affairs for comment.
Home Minister Amit Shah suggested in a speech last December that there were other factors driving the electoral roll clean-up.
“These infiltrators cannot decide who becomes the Prime Minister or Prime Minister of this country,” he told parliament, adding that authorities “find, remove and deport” illegal immigrants.
The BJP is already pushing ahead with a campaign to expel illegal “infiltrators” from neighboring Muslim-majority Bangladesh, which shares close cultural and linguistic ties with West Bengal.
The comments have fueled fears that having been stripped of the right to vote, questions about Indian citizenship may next arise.
The fear is already evident in Murshidabad district, which borders Bangladesh. In Mathurapur village, 243 out of 800 voters were removed from the voting list, a local booth official said.
“They are trying to take away our citizenship, that’s what people say. That’s why we are afraid,” said Nurfa Bibi, a Mathurapur-based housewife who said she was also removed from the list.
“If our citizenship is taken away, will they give it back or will it be taken away gradually?”
After they and their families appealed to the Supreme Court, the illustrator’s grandson, Suprabuddha, and his wife had their names reinstated in the voters’ register.
The results of the polls are expected to be released in early May, but millions of people will be left in limbo, unsure whether their right to vote or their membership in India is safe.
“We are well connected and have all these documents,” Suprabuddha said. “But what happens to people who don’t have those connections?”
