The Bengal BJP has decided to go all out to counter Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the party is manipulating the electoral roll in collusion with the Election Commission of India, realising that the Trinamul Congress will use the issue as a political tool in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly elections.

On Friday, within 24 hours of Mamata’s accusation regarding voter list manipulation, a team of Bengal BJP leaders wrote to the ECI, claiming that the chief minister’s statement was a clear indication of a plan to remove the names of Hindus, particularly non-Bengali voters, from the electoral roll in various Assembly segments.

A BJP source stated that while Mamata is attempting to turn the tables on the issue of voter list manipulation, it is her TMC that has historically tried to retain outsiders, dead and duplicate voters in voter lists across Bengal to facilitate election rigging.

“Now, they will try to remove the names of Hindu voters, particularly non-Bengalis, who usually support the BJP. We will not allow this and will take the matter up with the ECI,” said a senior BJP leader.

In the five-page letter sent to the ECI, the Bengal BJP provided details of their previous complaints along with data on dead or duplicate voters.

“...Mamata Banerjee, while addressing the TMC party at Netaji Indoor Stadium, made it clear that steps should be taken to remove 4,000 to 5,000 Hindus, especially non-Bengali voters, per Vidhan Sabha (Assembly constituency),” the BJP’s letter to the
ECI reads.

On Thursday, while addressing party leaders and workers in Calcutta, Mamata threatened to stage an indefinite dharna outside the EC office in Delhi if the panel did not address allegations of the inclusion of outsiders in the state’s electoral roll.

As the Trinamool Congress activated its social media platforms to launch a robust campaign on the voter list manipulation issue, a digital war broke out, with the BJP immediately responding with counter-arguments.

A Trinamool leader said that all districts had been instructed to deploy workers at the grassroots level to check the voter lists and identify names of individuals who are not residents of the area. Most districts have scheduled separate meetings this week to discuss the issue.

Calcutta mayor Firhad Hakim said that he, along with other councillors and leaders, would begin scrutinising the voter list starting Saturday.

“We will check the voter list and ensure that all names are familiar to the locality. If any name was included through the online system, we will cross-check whether physical verification was conducted,” said Hakim, who is also the state urban development minister.

BJP leaders alleged that Mamata had intimidated a section of returning officers in the districts to facilitate the entry of outsiders into the electoral roll. They argued that this was proof that government officials would be used to remove the names of bona fide
BJP supporters.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari accused the TMC of creating the issue of ghost and fake voters, alleging that the party had allowed Rohingya immigrants and other infiltrators to be included in the electoral roll for years.

He demanded that elections in Bengal be conducted using biometric verification.

“We want Aadhaar cards to be linked with voter ID cards to identify ghost voters implanted by the TMC. They have included thousands of such ghost voters in nine districts bordering Bangladesh. Therefore, we demand that the ECI conduct elections in Bengal using biometric verification,” said Adhikari, who also sent a separate letter to the ECI seeking intervention regarding Mamata’s comments about the panel and the chief electoral officer.

On Thursday, Mamata raised serious concerns about the controversial appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner (a position he will hold until January 2029) and accused the BJP of hijacking the constitutional and autonomous institution responsible for conducting elections in the country.

She pointed out that Kumar previously served as the secretary of the cooperative department, which is headed by Union home minister Amit Shah, before being appointed as the head of the panel.

“You (Mamata) have maligned the office of the CEC. We will not tolerate it,” Adhikari said.

However, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dismissed the BJP’s allegations, arguing that Mamata Banerjee had exposed the party’s electoral roll manipulation with
concrete proof.

“The BJP is making baseless accusations because Mamata Banerjee has uncovered their conspiracy to manipulate the voter list as a tool to win election,” said Ghosh.