TMC Alleges Voter List Manipulation by BJP Ahead of 2026 West Bengal Elections

Kolkata, April 2026 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of manipulating voter lists in West Bengal, raising tensions ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Posting on social media platform X, Banerjee wrote, “The BJP has mastered the dirty art of voter list manipulation. They practiced the ‘warm-up’ in Delhi and Maharashtra. Now they are playing the real game in Bengal.”

Banerjee cited voter statistics to highlight his claims. In Maharashtra, he said, 43,84,814 voters were added in the last five years, with 40,81,229 added in just five months. In Delhi, 416,648 voters were added over four years, while 399,362 were added in seven months. “The real fraud does not happen in EVMs; it happens in voter lists,” he asserted, claiming similar manipulations were underway in Bengal.

He shared a video showing cartons full of Form-6 applications being deposited and stacked on the third floor of the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office. Banerjee alleged that this indicated a plot to illegally include voters from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Bengal’s voter list. He pointed out that Election Commission rules allow a person to submit a maximum of 50 Form-6 applications, yet “a handful of people are submitting thousands of forms. This is a blatant violation of rules and a direct attack on the free and fair electoral process.”

Targeting the Election Commission, Banerjee claimed that instead of acting to prevent this, the Commission was surrendering to political pressures. He interpreted the BJP slogan “Paltono Darkar” as “Voter List Paltono Darkar” and “Poriborton” (change) as a demographic shift designed to dilute the influence of Bengal’s original voters and strengthen the BJP’s position.

The controversy has escalated with TMC supporters staging protests outside the CEO office, leading to clashes between Block Level Officers (BLOs) aligned with TMC and police personnel.

The BJP has rejected all allegations, dismissing them as excuses for TMC’s anticipated electoral setbacks. Party officials stated that the Special Revision of Voter Lists (SIR) is being conducted transparently, with all procedures adhering strictly to Election Commission guidelines.

The dispute over voter lists adds to the political intensity in West Bengal, as parties prepare for a high-stakes assembly election where both local and migrant voter populations could play a decisive role.

Team Maverick