Bengal voters’ EPIC No. found linked to Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab

Kolkata: Barely two days after Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of appointing several agencies to manipulate the electoral rolls online in Bengal with the “blessing” of the Election Commission (EC) and alleged that Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers of people of the state were being linked to other people living in Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab, many fake EPIC cards from these states came to light bearing the EPIC numbers of valid voters from Bengal.

In another twist, Banerjee’s allegation about the appointment of agencies for manipulating electoral rolls received weightage after reports were published questioning the role of two Gujarat-based agencies —Association of Billion Minds (ABM) and India 360.

Banerjee during a political meeting last Thursday at Netaji Indoor Stadium mentioned these two names and alleged that BJP appointed several agencies, including ABM and India 360, for manipulating the electoral rolls in Bengal.

Media reports claimed that as per the preliminary investigation, these two agencies were found to be responsible for adding “ghost voters” against the EPIC numbers of valid voters from Bengal. The report also claimed that these two agencies have been working from behind the curtain in various ways since the end of 2013 when the BJP’s campaign was started with Narendra Modi as a candidate. These agencies came to the forefront and fought for Modi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

As per the report, the EPIC number of Taslim Mia, a valid voter at Gangarampur in South Dinajpur was used in a fake EPIC card that bears the name of one Jignesh Makvana, said to be a resident of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, Trinamool leaders led by North Bengal Development minister Udayan Guha took to the streets of Dinhata to check electoral rolls. The TMC leaders visited door-to-door and examined the voter lists. They found discrepancies in the list of 15 people. Their names are there in the voter list of the region but against the same EPIC numbers, there were also UP voters. The incident occurred in Mathabhanga.

In a similar case, the EPIC number of Golam Masum, a valid voter from Murshidabad’s Raninagar has been used in a fake EPIC card with the name of one Rimpi, said to be a resident of Haryana.

“In Delhi and Maharashtra, the BJP secured victory by adding fake voters from Haryana and Gujarat. Now, they aim to do the same in West Bengal. They know they cannot win if the elections are held fairly,” Banerjee had said on Thursday. She added that the other parties, which had contested the polls in Maharashtra and Delhi, had failed to catch the BJP in the act, but the TMC could when the saffron party wanted to do the same in West Bengal. Banerjee on EC had said: “I used to respect the Election Commission. But now, it appears to be filled with BJP-aligned individuals….Do not forget, we can also stage a protest near the Election Commission office in Delhi.” Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has however dismissed Banerjee’s allegations of electoral manipulation, saying that the voter roll update process follows established legal protocols.

The West Bengal CEO issued a statement on social media, outlining the procedures governing electoral roll updates. “As per RP Act 1950, Registration of Electors Rules 1960 and Manual on Electoral Rolls, concerned BLOs, AEROs, EROs, DEOs, and CEOs in any State/UT work for the updation of Electoral Rolls,” the post read. “This is done with active participation of Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties. Any specific claim or objections are to be made first before the concerned 80,633 BLOs, 3,049 AEROs and 294 EROs in West Bengal,” the post further stated. The response from the election authority came in the wake of Banerjee’s announcement of a committee to scrutinise alleged irregularities in voter lists across Bengal.