Kolkata: A delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Tuesday, submitted a detailed letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging large-scale, organised attempts to delete the names of genuine voters from electoral rolls in West Bengal, under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The delegation, which met Election Commission officials in the afternoon, raised serious concerns over what it described as systematic violations of electoral norms, following a press conference earlier in the day addressed by senior TMC leaders Chandrima Bhattacharya and Partha Bhowmick.
In the letter, the party cited the recent Bankura incident in Khatra block under Ranibandh Assembly Constituency, where a vehicle carrying around 3,000–4,000 pre-filled Form 7 objection forms was intercepted. According to TMC, the forms were not blank but already filled with voter names and details, allegedly intended for mass deletion. The party claimed most of the forms pertained to Taldangra Assembly Constituency, pointing to a coordinated, district-wide operation. Five BJP workers were reportedly present in the vehicle; two have been arrested while three fled.
The TMC alleged that the BJP has been openly flouting Election Commission guidelines, which limit the number of Form 7 submissions by Booth Level Agents (BLAs). Despite clear caps, bulk submissions running into thousands were allegedly being facilitated using vehicles, with the active involvement of BJP leaders, party workers and “compromised” officials.
The letter further flagged similar reports from Malda, East Midnapore, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas and parts of Kolkata, alleging that individuals from states such as Bihar and Jharkhand were being brought in to submit objection forms. The party claimed that women voters were being deliberately targeted for deletion.
The TMC delegation also questioned the transparency of the process, alleging that voters were not being given receipts for submitted documents, BLA-2 representatives were barred from hearing centres, and lists of voters marked under “logical discrepancy” were not being shared. It claimed over 54 lakh names had already been deleted illegally, while notices had been issued to nearly 1.36 crore voters. Describing the issue as an “assault on democracy”, the party demanded a thorough investigation to identify those behind the alleged misuse of voter data and called for strict action against all officials and political leaders involved.
The TMC asserted that it would not allow the names of genuine voters to be struck off and vowed to continue its protest against what it termed an attempt to “rig elections through disenfranchisement.”