As the hearings for voters flagged for various discrepancies in their documents continue across West Bengal as part of the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, people from all walks of life – ranging from ordinary citizens to ministers, sportspersons to movie stars – have been queueing up for them in order to prove their eligibility as voters.
These queues in different parts of the state are also seeing a slew of sadhus and monks, who have renounced all worldly attachments and embraced spirituality.
While many seers of various Maths and Missions are said to stay away from voting, they have responded to the EC’s notices to appear for these hearings as they are keen to be included in electoral rolls to avoid complications in their visa applications when they travel abroad.
A number of monks from the Bharat Sevashram Sangha (BSS) and the ISKCON, who exercise their franchise, have also joined the SIR hearings. Both the BSS and the ISKCON are prominent Hindu bodies headquartered in Bengal.
According to a BSS insider, several monks of their organisation had given the name of its founder Acharya Swami Pranavananda as their father’s name, which led to document mismatch for which they had been called for the SIR hearing.
BSS general secretary Swami Biswatmananda told The Indian Express: “Some of our monks have been called for the hearings as there are some technical issues. But these are not problems. SIR is a documentation and all Indian citizens have to do it. They are asking for documents as part of their exercise that everyone has to undergo. There are some misinterpretations.”
He said due to some “technical difficulties” the Booth Level Officer (BLO) had visited the BSS’ Ballygunge headquarters in Kolkata twice to assist them and clear their doubts.
Another BSS seer, Swami Dibyananda, said: “There was a minor technical issue regarding my name. I had submitted all my documents like affidavit of name change, original address, and current address. They saw my documents and said okay. I did not face any difficulties – and this is something that we all have to do.”
Swami Vimukhtanandaji of the BSS said, “When we joined BSS, we submitted all documents. So there was not much trouble in getting them. I submitted the affidavit showing the link between my original name at the time of birth and the ordained name after joining this order. I did not face any harassment.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, ISKCON Kolkata’s vice-president