Kolkata/Ranaghat: A 97-year-old partition refugee who never voted has had his name removed from the list. The 72-year-old retired teacher, who had presided over a dozen elections, has been removed despite having the papers. A 68-year-old man collapsed in the tribunal queue and died. The fallout of SIR has spread across Bengal. Born in undivided Bengal and displaced in 1947, Subarna Bala Poddar has voted in every election. His name is now missing. Unaware of the omission, she said: “Shorir dile vote debo (If health permits, I will vote).” What if she fails to vote? She retorted, “I have a voter card. Why can’t I vote?” Her family from Narkeldanga, Kolkata, said she earlier used the home voting facility. This time, despite submitting voter ID, Aadhar, passbook and widow pension records, his claim failed. A hearing began over a spelling error – “golden belle” in the 2002 rolls, and the documents were thrown out. Fresh incorporation through Form 6 also failed. Four out of eight family members will vote; Four, including two grandsons, have lost their rights. A TMC booth agent said the roll in that area dropped from 1,326 to 1,092. In Hooghly, S Asraful Haq, a retired teacher who had served as presiding officer in 12 elections, has been removed while his family is still on the list. He produced passport, land records, PAN, Aadhaar and bank papers. “We have been living here for generations. I have ancestral land records from 1944. My parents’ names were in the voter list of 1956, and I have that document. My name was in the 2002 list. Yet, I was called for a hearing.” No specific reason has been mentioned in the notice.” He has appealed to a tribunal. “Is it possible to remove the name of the person who has the passport, land records and pension order?” he asked after finding himself under adjudication and then on a supplemental deletion list. In Nadia’s Ranaghat, Jibankrishna Biswas died after collapsing while waiting in the queue outside an SDO office to file an appeal to remove his and his daughter’s names. His family members blamed the stress related to SIR for this. TMC protested, blaming the Center for his death. His daughter said, “Politics took his life.” In all districts, families had repeat hearings for no apparent reason, documentation was deemed inadequate, and there was a sudden shift from “decision” to removal. For many, the right to vote has turned into a race through offices, queues and paperwork, with no guarantee of a return.