BJP bringing people from Jharkhand, Bihar to fill Form 7; a plot to remove names of genuine voters: TMC
Mamata Banerjee says EC changing rules on basis of WhatsApp messages; deleted 54 lakh 'genuine voters' without giving them chance to defend themselves
The TMC alleged on Tuesday, 13 January, that it is receiving alarming reports of BJP leaders, party members, and their associated booth-level agents entering the offices of SDOs and DMs and putting undue pressure on electoral registration officers (EROs) and AEROs to submit Form 7 in large numbers for the removal of voters' names. It also alleged that people are being brought in vehicles from Bihar and Jharkhand and thousands of such forms are submitted at once.
The TMC claimed that these incidents have come to light from English Bazar in Malda, Ranibandh and Taldangra in Bankura, Moyna and Tamluk in East Medinipur, Chinsurah and Chandannagar in Hooghly, Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas, and Jorabagan in Kolkata. The party said this was a blatant and deliberate violation of the Election Commission's notification number 23/2025 ERS Vol II dated 27 October 2025, which clearly states that no BLO shall submit more than 50 forms per day before the draft publication and more than 10 forms per day thereafter.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the 54 lakh names, which were deleted from the draft rolls during the SIR in the state, were done unilaterally and by misusing powers of electoral registration officers (EROs).
Banerjee alleged that a bulk of the deleted voters were "genuine electors", who were not allowed to defend themselves because they weren't even apprised of the grounds of deletion.
"The EC, while sitting in Delhi, used AI tools devised by the BJP to delete names. These AI software accounted for the names mismatch in SIR data. They deleted names of women who changed surnames post marriage," Banerjee alleged at a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna in Kolkata.
Claiming that 'logical discrepancy' was not part of the original SIR verification process, and that it was "included as an afterthought to add to deletions", Banerjee said that the "BJP-EC nexus" was planning to remove another one crore names from the final rolls.
"The EC has not allowed BLA-2s to attend hearings because the BJP couldn't amass its workers to do the job," said Banerjee, who is also the TMC president.
(With agency inputs)