BERHAMPORE, March 31 -- Two-and-a-half centuries after the East India Company defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, and established the foundation of the British empire in India, the names of several descendants of Mir Jafar, the Nawab's general who helped the British win, were deleted from the electoral roll during the special intensive revision (SIR) in West Bengal. After the Battle of Plassey changed the course of history in 1757, Robert Clive, the company's army commander, installed Mir Jafar as the titular Nawab. "Our ancestors built the Hazarduari Palace and the other magnificent structures that define Murshidabad. Yet, our names have been struck off," Syed Mohammad Fahim Meerza, a 16th-generation descendant of Mir Jafar and a Trinamool Congress councillor at Murshidabad municipality, said. During the SIR, the names of 286 of the 850 voters registered at Booth no 121 at New Adarsh High School in Lalbagh were deleted. Syed Mohammad Fahim Meerza, his wife and his father Syed Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza and his uncle Mohammad Abbas Ali Meerza's two daughters and elder son are among the affected people. The eldest member of the family, 82-year-old Syed Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza, popularly addressed as Chhote Nawab, lives in the historic Killa Nizamat area of Murshidabad town. "The names were deleted although several of the family members responded to hearing notices and provided documents," Fahim Meerza said. "We also corrected our names in the voter list following the Election Commission's guidelines. My father's name was changed from Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza to include Syed, and my name was changed from Syed Fahim Meerza to include Mohammad. Put in the 'under adjudication' category, we appeared for hearings despite my father's health issues," he added. During the 1947 Partition, Murshidabad remained part of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) for three days following the Radcliffe Line but was included in India in exchange for Khulna. "Are descendants of the Nawab not Indian citizens? We will approach the electoral tribunal but the process is time-consuming. The issue may not be resolved before the assembly elections," Fahim Meerza said. In the two-phase Bengal polls to be held on April 23 and 29, Murshidabad will vote in the first phase. Requesting anonymity, a district electoral officer said, "Members of the Nawab's family have to follow the rules like others." Gauri Shankar Ghosh, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Murshidabad legislator seeking reelection, said no deletion was intentional or accidental. "Neither our party nor the EC said names of genuine voters should be removed. A name is deleted for technical reasons. They can seek reinclusion," Ghosh said....