The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to act against an ongoing large-scale attempt to enroll outsiders as voters in poll-bound West Bengal.
“We are receiving credible reports from several districts that large numbers of Form 6 applications (new voters) are being submitted in a questionable manner. These are not routine additions. There are serious concerns that many of these entries may be linked to individuals who have no real connection to Bengal—people who don’t live here, don’t work here and have no stake in the state,” Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary, said in a post on X.
On Monday evening, Banerjee led a TMC delegation to Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal ‘s office to complain about the alleged attempts.
Banerjee also posted some videos and pictures on social media to support his allegations.
“The video only adds to these concerns. It appears to show thousands of such forms being processed and stacked, raising valid questions about the scale and intent behind this exercise. We have seen similar concerns being raised in other states during elections. Bengal cannot be allowed to go down that path,” he said.
West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal did not respond to a call and message to seek his reaction to the allegations.
Banerjee said at least 30,000 Form 6 were submitted in several assembly constituencies across the state between 11 and 6 pm on Monday to enrol voters from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Bengal’s electoral roll.
“The same thing was earlier seen in Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana ahead of the elections in those states. In Maharashtra our million new voters were added in five months ahead of the polls. In Delhi around half a million new voters were added. BJP leaders are mounting pressure on the poll panel to enrol such voters in West Bengal. Earlier there were attempts by the BJP to delete voters names on a mass scale by submitting Form 7,” he added.
Senior BJP leader Shankar Ghosh brushed aside the allegation, saying the TMC should approach the Supreme Court if it had specific evidence.
“Mamata Banerjee has been trying to stall the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal from the first day. Now that the SIR has almost reached its fag end and election dates gave been announced, the TMC is coming up with such allegations just to increase the political heat. If they have specific information, they should move the Supreme Court,” Ghosh said.
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