Kolkata, March 1 – The name of Richa Ghosh, a member of the Indian women's cricket team that won the World Cup, has been listed as 'under review' in the final voter rolls of West Bengal.
This came to light after the state's final voter list was published following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
On Saturday, the Election Commission of India identified voters in three categories. Those who have been removed from the list have been declared as 'deleted'. Eligible voters have been declared as 'approved'. In addition, there are 60,06,675 people who have been listed as 'under review' in the voter list, but their documents have not yet been verified.
Richa Ghosh, who is a resident of ward number 19 of the Siliguri Municipality in north Bengal, has been awarded the 'Banga Bhushan' award by the state government. She has also been appointed as a DSP in the state police. However, despite this recognition, Richa's name is in the 'under review' category.
According to her father, Manabendra Ghosh, "Richa spends most of the year outside the state or the country due to her commitment to Indian cricket. A notice was issued in her name during the SIR process."
Richa's father claimed that after receiving the SIR notice, all the documents were submitted online. "But even after that, no solution was found," said Manabendra.
Not only Richa, but her sister Somashree Ghosh's name is also in the same category.
Moushumi Hazra, a councilor from Siliguri Municipality's ward 19 and a leader of the Left Front, visited Richa's house after learning about the development.
Hazra said, "This is shameful. Richa, who has made the whole of India proud, has to go through this. Then think about the condition of the common people."
Goutam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri and a senior leader of the Trinamool Congress, expressed his anger at the Election Commission over this incident. He said, "Richa is not only the pride of Siliguri, but also of India. This is the whim of the Election Commission. I condemn the role of the Election Commission."
On the other hand, a political row has started over the name of state minister and Harishchandrapur MLA Tajmul Hossain, who is also in the 'under review' category.
Hossain claimed that he received the SIR notice from the Election Commission on January 18. After receiving the notice, he stood in line and submitted all the documents. Tajmul is surprised that his name is still on the 'under review' category.
Meanwhile, the name of a Trinamool panchayat member has been removed from the final voter list.
Jharna Mandal Barman, is a Trinamool panchayat member of Baroghariya Gram Panchayat in Dhupguri Block in Jalpaiguri district.
The BJP raised its voice against her in the initial phase of the SIR. They claimed that Jharna Mandal is a resident of Bangladesh.
Ratan Barman, the husband of this panchayat member, admitted at that time that after marriage, she came to this country and registered her name in the voter list in 2011. Then in 2013, Jharna contested the Panchayat elections as a BJP candidate, but joined the Trinamool later.
In 2023, the Trinamool nominated her as a candidate and she was elected as a panchayat member. On Saturday, when the voters' list was published, it was seen that Jharna Mandal Barman's name was deleted.