Suvendu alleges massive voter list manipulation, writes to EC
The Statesman | 30 July 2025
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari today alleged that I-PAC, the consultancy firm working with the Trinamul Congress (TMC), has inserted numerous fake names into the electoral rolls of every Assembly constituency in West Bengal.
According to him, these voters do not actually exist. He also wrote to Election Commission of India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar regarding his matter and appealed for urgent action to remove the name from the voters’ list. Mr Adhikari claimed during a Press conference at party headquarters in Salt Lake that the TMC has not won any election since 2019 based on genuine public support, but rather through the use of these fraudulent voters. He pointed out that between 2014 and 2024, voter turnout in 80 Assembly constituencies in the state increased by 30 per cent — a spike he described as “unnatural.” He expressed confidence that these discrepancies will be exposed during the ongoing special summary revision of the electoral rolls. Adhikari also alleged irregularities in the appointment of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are responsible for voter list verification and revision in West Bengal. Referring to a case in Egra, he said: “According to the local TMC MLA Tarun Maity, the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Egra, who is also the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), appointed 84 ICDS and ASHA workers as BLOs. As soon as I got this information, I reported it to the chief election commissioner. This is illegal. Where there are permanent government employees available, part-time or contractual workers cannot be appointed as BLOs.”
Mr Adhikari also accused the West Bengal government of flouting central Election Commission guidelines in the appointment of EROs. He said, “Across India, there is a clear directive that only SDOs can be appointed as EROs. But here, the chief secretary is violating that directive. I have filed a complaint on that as well.” The BJP leader also shared details about the districts and areas from where such “irregularities” have been reported to him. “They seem to think this is still the era of Ariz Aftab (former chief electoral officer). That everything will be managed like before. But that won’t happen this time,” he said. On the issue of “fake” and “illegal” names in the voter list, Suvendu said: “Mamata Banerjee wants to keep them. The Commission wants to remove them. The BJP wants these names deleted and a clean, error-free voter list. We will not allow these names to remain. BJP is the only real opposition party in this state. We are not anyone’s B-team or C-team.”