The newly published draft electoral rolls for West Bengal, released under the Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR), have immediately become a flashpoint for political conflict. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has seized upon the data to sharply contradict the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prior assertion that “one crore Rohingyas and Bangladeshis” are fraudulently listed as voters in the state.
Following a month of rigorous enumeration, verification, and scrutiny conducted in preparation for the 2026 assembly elections, the draft registers were finalized. While the overall exercise led to the removal of over 58 lakh names — on grounds ranging from death and permanent migration to duplication and non-submission of forms — the EC’s breakdown reveals that only 183,328 voters were officially categorized as ‘fake’ or ‘ghost.’ This figure stands significantly lower than the repeated claims made by the Opposition.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had previously alleged that large-scale illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants had compromised the state’s electoral integrity and swayed past election results. He had publicly urged the EC to take decisive action to purge these alleged illegal voters.
Equipped with the revised data, the TMC launched a focused counter-offensive, accusing the Leader of the Opposition of deliberately disseminating “misinformation.” The party has consistently maintained that the notion of a massive influx of Rohingya voters is a politically manufactured narrative designed to manipulate public opinion ahead of the election cycle.
TMC spokesperson Krishanu Mitra said: “In the draft rolls, around 58 lakh voters have been deleted. As per BSF data, around 4,000 people have crossed back into Bangladesh through the Hakimpur border. What we are hearing is that in nearly 80% Muslim-dominated constituencies, the average deletion rate is 0.6%, while in Matua-dominated regions the average deletion rate is around 9%.”
“The state’s overall deletion rate is around 4%. If you exclude deaths, who are the remaining deleted voters? Through which borders did they leave?” Mitra asked.
The BJP, for its part, quickly rejected the counter-allegations, with Adhikari reportedly mocking the accusation.
“This is just the beginning. Breakfast has just begun. There will be lunch, tea and then dinner,” said Adhikari.
The publication of the draft rolls coincides with an escalation in political rhetoric surrounding alleged cross-border movement, particularly in the North 24 Parganas district bordering Bangladesh. A minor but steady flow of undocumented Bangladeshis returning via the Hakimpur and Bongaon borders has materialized as a fresh point of contention, further intensifying the hostility between the BJP and TMC over infiltration, the contested validity of voter lists, and the EC’s high-stakes revision process months before the polls.
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