BJP flooding Bengal voter rolls with outsiders: Mamata Banerjee's big charge
Mamata Banerjee accuses BJP agents of flooding West Bengal's electoral rolls with fake Form 6 applications, alleging an attempt to include outsiders. She urges the Election Commission to halt the exercise and uphold democratic rights.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to the Chief Election Commissioner, raising serious concerns over what she describes as a “grave conspiracy” to manipulate the state’s electoral process.
In a statement on social media, Banerjee alleged that BJP agents were caught submitting thousands of fraudulent Form 6 applications to include non-residents and outsiders in Bengal’s electoral rolls. “This is an attempt at voter hijacking, the same dirty game BJP successfully played in Maharashtra and Delhi,” she said.
Banerjee said that while over 60 lakh genuine voter applications remain under adjudication, more than 200 lives have already been lost due to the flawed SIR process. She warned that the Election Commission of India appears to be rushing through these bulk applications behind closed doors.
“This is not only illegal and against the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, but a direct assault on free and fair elections in Bengal,” she added.
Banerjee demanded that the ECI immediately halt the exercise, strictly follow the Supreme Court’s directions, and ensure no fake voters are added after the final electoral roll was published on February 28, 2026. “Bengal will not allow its democracy to be stolen in broad daylight. The people are watching,” she asserted.
SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES CITED
In her letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Banerjee cited the Supreme Court’s order dated February 20, 2026, which emphasised the need for impartial adjudication of voter applications under the “logical discrepancy/unmapped category.” She urged the ECI to ensure judicial oversight in reviewing pending claims, including involving serving and former district judges of impeccable integrity.
POLITICAL CONTEXT AND PREVIOUS ALLEGATIONS
Mamata Banerjee framed the alleged fraud as a coordinated effort by the BJP in conjunction with the ECI to interfere with democratic rights. She said credible reports indicate that the bulk applications were “a mischievous ploy to include non-residents in the electoral roll,” noting similar patterns in previous elections in Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi.
“This is not routine application processing but an attempt to manipulate the voter base. Such actions, if true, are illegal, unconstitutional, and fundamentally undemocratic,” she said.