With one year to go for the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that a “ghost political party” was trying to register at least 20,000 – 30,000 fake voters in every Assembly seat across the State ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
Banerjee did not name any particular political party but through her words, made it clear that she was targeting the BJP and the Election Commission. She said: “Babus have come to Bengal and are sitting here to register 20,000 – 30,000 fake voters in every Assembly seat. The Election Commission of India will conduct the polls by sending Central forces. Voters, who do not belong to Bengal, will come and cast their votes. We will foil your plans.”
She alleged that voters from Bihar were being registered in West Bengal through online registration. She alleged that goons were being brought from Bihar and being settled in West Bengal.
Banerjee, separately, targeted the BJP while referring to the results of the Delhi and Maharashtra Assembly polls. “BJP, how did the votes increase by 40 lakh in Maharashtra? What did you do in Delhi? One day the truth will come out. While some people solve mathematics problems earlier, others may take time,” she said.
Suvendu Adhikari, BJP legislator and Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly, hit back saying: ““She (Banerjee) is the Chief Minister for 14 years. Does she even know what she is saying? Who are the registration officers of the electoral roll? The District Magistrates. We have identified 1.6 million duplicate voters. We will get their names deleted before the 2026 polls.”
He said that for the past one year, he had been raising his voice about this problem. “Everybody knows who is behind the influx of Muslims and Rohingyas into West Bengal.”
CPI(M) State Committee member Sujan Chakraborty said: “Everybody knows who is an expert in bringing over people from across the borders. That person is Mamata Banerjee. It is under her guidance that people are crossing the India-Bangladesh border. It is the Trinamool Congress leaders at the district level who are facilitating their registration and giving them all help to get Aadhaar cards, voter cards, ration cards. In every booth, there are at least 60 names of people who are untraceable, or are already dead. Thousands of such names are there in each and every Assembly constituency.”
