‘Vote theft is in electoral rolls, not EVMs’: Abhishek Banerjee leads TMC charge against EC over Bengal voter re-verification

The meeting comes amid a sharp political standoff between the Trinamool-led Bengal government and the BJP-led Centre, with the Assembly elections just months away.

The TMC has accused the Election Commission of using what it described as “opaque, software-driven mechanisms” to selectively delete, reclassify and flag voters.

Speaking to reporters after submitting a detailed representation, Banerjee said the debate around electronic voting machines (EVMs) had diverted attention from what he called the real threat to free and fair elections.

“Vote chori is not happening in EVMs. It is happening in electoral rolls,” he said.

In its submission, the party objected to the introduction of new and unexplained categories such as “suspicious voters” and “logical discrepancies” during the re-verification process.

Banerjee said such classifications had never existed in earlier Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises and demanded that the Election Commission make public the complete “logical discrepancy list” to ensure transparency.

“If it is not happening, then release the ‘logical discrepancy’ list. In earlier SIRs, there was no such suspicious list,” he said, alleging that voter lists were being “weaponised” to influence election outcomes.

Banerjee claimed he conveyed this directly to the CEC, telling him, “You are weaponising electoral rolls.”

Expanding the issue beyond Bengal, Banerjee alleged similar irregularities may have gone undetected in other states. “Congress and AAP couldn’t catch this in Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana. If they had, the BJP would have lost in these states,” he said, calling for stronger coordination among opposition parties.

Describing the meeting as tense, Banerjee claimed the delegation’s concerns were dismissed.

“He interrupted, pointed fingers and was losing his temper. I replied, ‘You are nominated and I am elected’,” Banerjee alleged, accusing the Centre of undermining constitutional institutions.

He further claimed the government was being run through “WhatsApp circulars” and alleged that the CEC had been “sent on a mission to destroy this institution,” daring the Commission to release CCTV footage of the meeting.

Calling the issue a political inflection point, Banerjee urged opposition parties to act decisively. “I appeal to like-minded parties to catch the chori being done through software in voter rolls,” he said. “It’s a challenge to us—we have come here to throw this government out of power.”

The TMC delegation included Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Md Nadimul Haque, MPs Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Mamata Thakur, Saket Gokhale and Ritabrata Banerjee, along with senior leaders Pradip Mazumdar, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Manas Bhunia.

In response, the Election Commission rejected the allegations and issued a set of counter-allegations.

It asked the Bengal government to immediately release the enhanced honorarium approved for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and said additional polling stations would be set up in high-rise buildings, gated communities and slum areas to improve voter access.

The Commission also warned the party to ensure its ground-level representatives do not threaten or intimidate election officials. It made clear that any harassment of BLOs, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant EROs (AEROs) or observers would invite strict action.

Reiterating its commitment to the integrity of the electoral process, the EC said any attempt to interfere with elections or take the law into one’s own hands would be met with strong punitive measures.