Kolkata, February 22: A day after news reports exposed an unaccountable surge of over 4,500 voters in the Champahati Gram Panchayat of Baruipur in a period of 7 months, the ruling TMC and Opposition BJP traded barbs accusing each other of illegally manipulating voter lists. This comes shortly after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week raised concerns over replication of “Delhi and Maharashtra model” in Bengal.
The BJP has accused Mamata Banerjee’s government of orchestrating the voter surge by allegedly bringing in voters from Bangladesh. In response, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dismissed the claims, stating on X (formerly Twitter) that border security and infiltration control are the responsibility of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, not the state government.
In a video byte released this afternoon, AITC Spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “BJP is trying to mislead the people with lies. The real issue is that after removing the process of physical verification, central authorities – in collusion with certain ECI officials – are enlisting Bohiragotos through this new module. After executing this in states like Maharashtra, they are now targeting Bengal to manipulate voter lists. BJP’s claims against Trinamool are baseless because it is our state administration that uncovered the fraud.”
His statement was in response to Bengal BJP Chief Sukanta Majumdar’s allegations that the “fake voters” were a result of TMC’s fraudulent practices. “Fake voters, rigged elections, and a broken democracy— @MamataOfficial ’s TMC has mastered the art of electoral fraud. How many more fake votes will it take before Bengal wakes up to this corruption?” Majumdar had posted this morning.
During the recently-concluded Legislative Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Delhi, INDIA Bloc parties flagged grave irregularities in voter lists allegedly affecting electoral outcomes in BJP’s favour. While Congress initially raised the issue last year, it gained traction during the recently-concluded Delhi Assembly elections, when AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal voiced similar concerns.
But, what exactly is a “fake voter?”
In a bid to manipulate the electoral contest, political parties often facilitate the registration of “ghost voters” or “fake voters” through online processes so as to rig the contest in their favour. For instance, in case of Bengal, it was discovered that 4-5 voters were registered under a single number. The absence of a physical verification allows for manipulation of electoral rolls at the booth level to gain an edge in micro-level contests.
Following reports of voter list manipulation across the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued a directive to her party workers, urging vigilance. This coincided with the case in Baruipur’s Champahati panchayat where number of registered voters increased from 18,000 to 22,500 in 7 months. As the political slugfest intensifies, all eyes are now on the Election Commission to see what measures will be taken to curb such alleged malpractices.