‘SIR’prising victory: Struck off electoral rolls, Farakka candidate ends Congress’s losing drought in West Bengal | India News
Congress Farakka candidate won the election while his name was deleted during SIR
New Delhi: In West Bengal’s Farakka constituency, an interesting incident related to special intensive re-polling and assembly elections took place. A Congress candidate whose name was omitted from the electoral roll during the SIR, fought the case, got his franchise back and later won the constituency as well.Congress candidate Motab Sheikh has won the Farakka assembly seat in Murshidabad district, after successfully reclaiming his eligibility through the Supreme Court-directed tribunal process.Sheikh defeated BJP’s Sunil Chowdhury by 8,193 votes, securing 63,050 votes against Chowdhury’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 after failing to secure a single seat in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.Sheikh’s win is notable given that his name was initially omitted from the voter list after the SIR exercise. He challenged the removal before an Appellate Tribunal, one of 19 bodies Supreme CourtInstructions for examining such cases. The tribunal restored his voting rights shortly before the nomination deadline, allowing him to contest the election.In Sheikh’s case, Calcutta High Court advocate Firdous Samim appeared in person at the courthouse and submitted the necessary documents, thereby restoring his name to the list.Referring to the Supreme Court order dated September 8, 2025, former Justice TS Sivagnam observed that an 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 a person’s identity”.The Congress also won the neighboring Raninagar seat, where its candidate Zulfikar Ali defeated Trinamool’s Soumik Hussain by 2,701 votes, signaling a modest but symbolically important revival for the party in the state.
