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Headline: West Bengal Opposition Accuses Ruling Party of Electoral Roll Manipulation

Kolkata, November 30, 2025 – A political firestorm is brewing in West Bengal as the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has accused the Mamata Banerjee government of manipulating the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Adhikari alleges that booth-level officers (BLOs) are being pressured to include ineligible voters, including deceased individuals and illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, inflating the voter list.

Adhikari claims that while millions of enumeration forms remain undigitized, the current number of deleted names (2.75 million) is suspiciously low. He announced the BJP’s intention to utilize “Forms 6, 7, and 8” after the draft electoral roll’s release on December 9 to challenge suspect entries.

The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) appointment of retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta as Special Roll Observer and a team of 12 IAS officers as election roll observers has been welcomed by Adhikari, who believes they will help ensure a fair revision process.

However, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) vehemently denies these allegations. TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty accused the ECI of being a “puppet of the BJP,” citing the rapid appointment of observers following public demands from the State BJP President. Chakraborty also dismissed Adhikari as a liar and questioned how he obtained information about bureaucratic interactions.

The revised electoral rolls are a crucial step in the upcoming elections, and these allegations threaten to undermine public trust in the electoral process. The ECI’s newly appointed observers face the daunting task of ensuring a clean and accurate voter list amidst intense political scrutiny.

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