Bengali Muslim families evicted from Kachutoli village under the Dimoria Assembly constituency were allegedly denied the right to vote on polling day after being turned away from booths, with officials citing the absence of their names from the electoral rolls.
Several displaced residents who arrived at polling stations said they were barred from entering despite carrying identification documents.
Many claimed this was the second consecutive election in which they were unable to vote, after facing similar exclusion during last year’s panchayat polls, when their houses, situated less than a kilometre away, were demolished by the BJP-led government in Assam.
According to residents and local accounts, more than 2,200 names from the Kachutoli area were removed from the revised electoral rolls published on February 10 following a Special Revision exercise by the Election Commission.
Officials have stated that names were not deleted suo motu but were removed on grounds such as “permanent shifting,” and affected individuals were advised to apply for re-inclusion using Form-6.
However, many displaced families say their applications remain pending.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.