The Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, intensified its allegations of voter fraud in West Bengal, spotlighting duplicated Electors' Photo Identification Card (EPIC) numbers as evidence of electoral manipulation ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. The TMC’s claims, prominently voiced by party leader Kunal Ghosh, accuse the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a conspiracy with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to rig voter rolls, a charge that has deepened the political rift in the state.
The controversy erupted following an ECI statement addressing duplicated EPIC numbers, which the TMC seized upon as validation of their long-standing concerns. Banerjee had previously highlighted instances where multiple voters across states like Maharashtra, Delhi, and West Bengal shared identical EPIC numbers, suggesting a systemic effort to inflate voter lists with “ghost voters.” Ghosh, on March 2, declared the ECI’s clarification—that such duplications don’t necessarily indicate fraud—as a “damage control” move after their “conspiracy surfaced.” He insisted, “There is no clear answer as to how this happened,” casting doubt on the ECI’s integrity and framing it as a tool of the BJP.
The TMC alleges that the BJP has targeted key constituencies, with reports of 200-300 new voter registrations linked to identical phone numbers in areas like Murshidabad and Siliguri. Ghosh defiantly stated, “This is the land of Bengal. The conspiracy of Maharashtra, Delhi will not work on this soil,” positioning the TMC as a regional bulwark against external interference. The party has launched booth-level voter list checks, refusing to rely on ECI assurances and vowing to expose fraudulent entries themselves.
The BJP has countered by accusing the TMC of relying on fake voters, including alleged infiltrators from Bangladesh, to cling to power, while the ECI maintains that its safeguards prevent multiple voting. As of now, no independent evidence confirms widespread fraud, but the TMC’s campaign keeps the issue at the forefront of West Bengal’s political discourse, blending grassroots action with fiery rhetoric to rally its base.