Abhishek flags ‘irregular’ Form 6 surge, asks CEO to release CCTV footage

Kolkata: A delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday evening visited the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office, alleging large-scale irregularities in the submission of Form 6 applications for new voters.

The ‘Form 6’ , according to the Election Commission of India, is for the inclusion of new voters.

After a meeting with West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Banerjee claimed that nearly 30,000 Form 6 applications had been “illegally” submitted within six to seven hours earlier in the day, allegedly to enrol individuals from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in West Bengal’s electoral rolls.

“We have caught this red-handed. These are not residents of Bengal,” Banerjee said, adding that Election Commission norms do not permit submission of more than 50 Form 6 applications at a time. “If 30,000 forms were submitted, at least 600 people should have physically come. But only a handful were seen,” he alleged.

Banerjee said the party had been receiving “credible reports from several districts” about a surge in Form 6 applications. “These are not routine additions. There are serious concerns that many of these entries may be linked to individuals who have no real connection to Bengal,” he said.

The TMC leader also cited specific instances, claiming that 650–700 applications were submitted in the Noapara Assembly Constituency, alongside similar submissions in Barrackpore, Egra in East Midnapore, and three constituencies in north Kolkata. Before heading to the CEO’s office, Banerjee shared videos on X, alleging that boxes of Form 6 applications were being stored inside the West Bengal CEO’s office premises. He said the footage had been sent by concerned citizens. Millennium Post has not independently verified the authenticity of these videos.

Referring to the clips, Banerjee said they appeared to show thousands of forms being processed and stacked, raising questions about the scale and intent. He drew parallels with similar concerns raised in other states during elections. The delegation urged the CEO to release CCTV footage from 12 pm to 6 pm on Monday. Banerjee alleged the CEO avoided queries and reiterated that “the Election Commission must answer.” There was no immediate response from the poll panel.