Kolkata: Both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday had visited Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to inform him about the ‘fake voters’ in West Bengal.
Talking to the media, BJP state president and MoS Sukanta Majumdar said that they have informed the Election Commission that there are more than 17 lakhs fake voters in the state.
“The condition of West Bengal is not like other states. There is so much violence that scrutiny of the electoral list is not possible. In the crematoriums and burial grounds, death certificates are digitally registered. Why can’t the voters list be updated accordingly? The CEO office in West Bengal is another party office of TMC. We are ready for the biometric of the voters but will the TMC allow it?” questioned Majumdar.
The BJP state president also mentioned that the Chief Election Commissioner had also assured that he will look into the matter and will take necessary actions.
On the other hand, TMC MPs' delegation also visited Nirvachan Sadan to complain about fake voters.
After a meeting with poll officials in New Delhi, a 10-member AITC delegation demanded to know how the ECI planned to clean up the mess in just three months when the issue had flown under the radar for years.
In a six-page memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, TMC highlighted that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first to raise concerns over duplicate EPIC numbers after years of the issue had been overlooked for years.
“Why was the issue of duplicate EPIC numbers kept buried for several years until it was flagged by the Honourable Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on 27.02.2025? On what basis does the ECI claim it will resolve this issue in three months when no efforts have been made to address it for several years?” read the memorandum.
“Field visits conducted across West Bengal reveal that there has been an addition of several fake voters to the electoral roll through the online portal. Therefore, the ECI must clarify the steps being taken to prevent online voter registration based on fake documents and how it plans to ensure a robust verification mechanism,” further read the memorandum.
