From denial to death: Voting day chaos hits Bengal’s disenfranchised

Suprabuddha Sen, the grandson of legendary painter Nandalal Bose, and his wife, Deepa Sen, were turned away from the polling booth at Santiniketan in Birbhum on Thursday, although the voting rights of the couple, who had been disenfranchised earlier, were restored by an appellate tribunal following specific intervention by the Supreme Court.

The octogenarian couple could finally vote after intervention from the higher officials, but they had to come back to do so at around 4 p.m.

What makes the ordeal of the Sens all the more ironic is the fact that Suprabuddha’s grandfather, Nandalal Bose, had illustrated the original manuscript of the Constitution of India, which had Article 326 guaranteeing universal adult suffrage. Bose had been invited by Rabindranath Tagore himself to take the helm of the newly established Kala Bhavan, or the Institute of Fine Arts, in the Vishwa Bharati in 1921.

Suprabuddha and Deepa were among the 139 who had been restored to the electoral rolls after the 19 tribunals, tasked by the Supreme Court to hear the appeals of the disenfranchised, settled 657 cases till April 27-28 midnight. The Election Commission, early on Wednesday, issued supplementary rolls to incorporate people re-enfranchised by the tribunals. But when Deepa reached the polling station early in the morning, she was turned away. She and Suprabuddha again went to the polling station later in the morning and were again told that they could not vote.

The local administration, however, later sent cars to take them to the polling station, apologising for the inconvenience. They, however, went by their own car and cast their votes just a little while before the polling drew to a close.

 Mohammed Mozammel Haque, however, was not so lucky. The lawyer knew that he had lost his right to vote but turned up at the polling station at Samserganj in Murshidabad, only to be told that his appeal was not among the ones settled by the tribunals so far.

 Israton Bibi always went to the polling station with her husband Nababjan Ali. She, however, had to go alone this time, because Nababjan’s voting right was taken away after the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls.

 Israton, who was anxious about her husband’s fate, died after falling sick in the queue before the polling booth.