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Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the BJP is adding outsiders as voters to the electoral rolls through online resources ahead of next year’s assembly polls. The BJP, which has always raised the matter of bogus voters in Bengal with an infiltration angle, has…Read More
The election is still about a year away, but both parties are gearing up, using the ‘ghost voters’ issue to blame each other and pressurise the EC. They are also planning door-to-door visits to examine the situation. (Representational pic/PTI)
Ghost voters are not a new phenomenon in West Bengal politics. But with the assembly elections next year, both the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have latched on to the subject while attacking each other.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the BJP is adding outsiders as voters to the electoral rolls through online resources. She has also formed a committee in her party with all senior leaders to review the voters’ list.
On February 27, the TMC chief said in a meeting: “Bengal respects bohiragotos (outsiders) as guests but will not allow them to occupy Bengal. Their game is to capture Bengal and erase our culture. I have proof that they are putting in outsiders’ names online through data operators. They did this thing in Maharashtra and Delhi. There they could not understand this game, but Bengal will not allow this.”
Mamata tried to put up evidence of fake voters being added from states like Haryana and Gujarat, drawing parallels with similar tactics allegedly used in Delhi and Maharashtra, where polls were held recently and won by the BJP and its allies. She also warned that if corrective measures are not taken, indefinite protests outside the Election Commission’s office will follow.
It’s clear that the TMC will build up the initial election narrative along this line.
The BJP, which has always raised the matter of bogus voters in Bengal with an infiltration angle, has also taken up this issue from a different perspective. Suvendu Adhikari, Agnimitra Paul, and a group of MLAs visited the Election Commission office on Friday and complained about how Ansarullah Bangla Team terrorist Sad Radi allegedly voted twice in West Bengal. They also asked how the names of Rohingyas and Muslims from outside are purportedly on the voter rolls. Adhikari has also written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner on Mamata’s allegations against the EC.
“16 lakh duplicate voters were there. We have given their list to the EC before 2024. Some of those names have been deleted, but we want to know under whose instruction terrorists get their names on the voters’ list. They have changed the demography of the bordering state. What about that?” he said.
Adhikari also said the EC told him that claims of Haryana and Maharashtra voters being enrolled in Bengal are baseless.
The election is still about a year away, but both parties are gearing up, using the “ghost voters” issue to blame each other and pressurise the EC. They are also planning door-to-door visits to examine the situation.
The 2021 polls in Bengal saw a fierce contest between the TMC and BJP, and observers expect more of the same this time.
