‘Outsiders being added to Bengal poll list through Form 6’

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar flagging her serious concern over credible reports regarding a large number of Form 6 applications being submitted by BJP agents at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and across several districts. Banerjee stated that such applications do not seem to be routine applications for voter inclusion but a mischievous ploy to include non-residents in the electoral roll.

“There are serious concerns that these applications may pertain to individuals who are not genuine residents of Bengal and have no legitimate connection to the state. Similar patterns were reportedly observed prior to elections in Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi. Such actions, if true, would be illegal, unconstitutional and fundamentally undemocratic, reflecting mala fide intent and ill motive. This is not the standard expected of a constitutional authority. The people have a right to transparency and to the protection of their voting rights,” her letter read.

According to Banerjee’s letter, the flawed and seemingly targeted “Special Intensive Revision” has caused severe hardship to millions, pushing many to the brink of disenfranchisement. Tragically, over 200 people have reportedly lost their lives in this process. “It is deeply distressing that even such developments have not elicited a more humane and responsive approach from ECI,” the letter read.

She accused the BJP of attempting to illegally include voters from outside Bengal to the poll-bound state’s electoral rolls in bulk by means of Form 6 applications. She warned that the Election Commission of India appears to be rushing through these bulk applications behind closed doors.

She demanded that the ECI immediately halt the exercise, strictly follow the Supreme Court’s directions, and ensure no fake voters are added after the final electoral roll was published on February 28, 2026.

“Bengal will not allow its democracy to be stolen in broad daylight. The people are watching,” she asserted. “It is imperative that the ECI takes cognizance of the ground realities and intervenes decisively and lawfully to ensure that the democratic rights of the people are protected and not undermined or throttled in any manner,” her letter read. In view of the Model Code of Conduct in effect following the declaration of the Assembly polls on March 15, Banerjee addressed the communication to Kumar on the TMC chairperson letterhead and not that of the chief minister.

The leader stated that she had “reasonable apprehensions” that the 30,000-odd applications would be “allowed by the EC without giving appropriate notice to the concerned booths (sic) and to all the political parties”.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s February 20 order stating that claims and objections to inclusion or deletion of names in the final electoral rolls would be scrutinised by judicial officers, Banerjee maintained that the decision of the state’s CEO or any other administrative officers on the Form 6 applications was “totally illegal and beyond the scope” of the apex court’s order.

A delegation of the Trinamool Congress led by its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, on Monday evening, visited the CEO’s office, alleging large-scale irregularities in the submission of Form 6 applications for new voters.

The ‘Form 6’, according to the ECI, is for the inclusion of new voters. After a meeting with Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Abhishek 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.