Farakka candidate of Congress wins the election after his name was deleted during SIR

New Delhi: An interesting case related to special intensive revision and assembly elections has come to light in Farakka assembly constituency of West Bengal. A Congress candidate whose name was struck off from the voter list during SIR fought the case, won back his voting rights and later won the constituency as well.Congress candidate Motab Sheikh won the Farakka assembly seat in Murshidabad district, after successfully restoring his eligibility through the tribunal process directed by the Supreme Court.Sheikh defeated BJP’s Sunil Choudhary by 8,193 votes, securing 63,050 votes against Choudhary’s 54,857 votes, while Trinamool Congress candidate Amirul Islam came third with 47,256 votes.The victory marks a significant turnaround for the Congress, which also won the Raninagar seat, recovering from the setback of failing to secure a single seat in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.Shaikh’s victory is noteworthy as his name was initially missing from the voter list after the SIR process. He challenged the annulment before the Appellate Tribunal, one of the 19 bodies constituted Supreme CourtThe tribunal mandated to investigate such cases restored his voting rights shortly before the nomination deadline, allowing him to contest the elections.In Sheikh’s case, Calcutta High Court lawyer Firdous Sameem appeared in person at Bichar Bhawan and submitted the necessary documents, thereby restoring his name on the roll.Citing the Supreme Court order of September 8, 2025, former judge TS Sivaganam said that Aadhaar card can be accepted as a supporting document. Although it is not proof of citizenship, it is “one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person”.The Congress also won in the neighboring Raninagar constituency, where its candidate Zulfikar Ali defeated Trinamool’s Soumik Hussain by 2,701 votes, indicating a modest but symbolically important revival for the party in the state.