On 20 March, the ECI announced the formation of the Appllate Tribunals—composed of 19 former judges—to address complaints from deleted voters. They are yet to take off. (Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint)

by Rakhi Bose & Soumo Mondal

With just days left for the first phase of West Bengal Assembly elections, 33-year-old Zakir Hossain appears visibly agitated.

A voter from Rajganj Assembly constituency in Jalpaiguri district, he is left toiling outside the offices of his local block development officer (BDO), election officials, and even his local political workers. Amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Hossain’s name has been deleted from the voter list due to a discrepancy in the spelling of his father’s name.

Hossain is aware that the Supreme Court has set up Appellate Tribunals in Kolkata to hear cases like his, but he fears there “isn’t enough time left”.

“Local officials told me I’d be able to appeal my case in tribunals, but they are yet to be set up. In the meantime, the court has already frozen the final voter list for the seats voting in the first phase, which includes Rajganj,” he tells The Quint.

This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.