KOLKATA: In a development that has raised serious concerns about electoral integrity in West Bengal, the Election Commission (EC) has discovered over 25,000 voter ID cards with identical identification numbers across 11 of the state’s 294 Assembly constituencies. The revelation comes shortly after the release of the draft voter list on November 11, which included 7.4 crore names and accounted for 16 lakh corrections and deletions.
Among the constituencies identified, the highest concentration of duplicate voter IDs was reported in Bongaon Dakshin (North 24 Parganas), bordering Bangladesh, and Matigara-Naxalbari (Darjeeling), near the Nepal border. Other affected constituencies include Bongaon Uttar, Madhyamgram, Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Canning Purba, Baruipur Purba and Paschim, Kurseong, Siliguri, and Falakata.
The discovery has reignited opposition allegations of “bogus” voters in Bengal’s electoral roll. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has previously accused the state administration of harbouring 16 lakh fake or duplicate voters, a claim he reiterated during a meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab earlier this year.
Commission Probes the Source of Duplicates
According to EC officials, the primary concern lies with voter cards that share cloned identification numbers, which are supposed to be unique and auto-generated. “The chance of the same number appearing on two or more cards is slim. This anomaly requires thorough investigation,” said an official.
The Commission is now working with district administrations to physically verify all voter cards in the affected areas. Officials are probing whether the issue stems from human error or a deliberate attempt to introduce fraudulent entries into the electoral roll, potentially to pass off foreigners as Indian citizens.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also being deployed to address demographic-similar entries (voter cards with similar names and slight spelling variations) and photo-similar entries (voter cards with near-identical photographs). However, officials have noted that these efforts primarily target duplicates based on voter details rather than identification number anomalies, which require separate attention.
“We are using AI tools to clean the voter rolls by identifying and removing duplicates or suspicious entries. Still, the cloned ID numbers present a unique challenge,” an official explained.
Opposition Demands Action
The findings have fueled political tensions, with opposition parties accusing the ruling administration of negligence or deliberate malpractice. Adhikari and other BJP leaders have demanded a transparent probe and corrective measures to ensure free and fair elections.
The EC has assured that the final voter list, set to be published on January 5, 2025, will be thoroughly scrutinised to eliminate discrepancies. During the pre-revision phase of the electoral roll, 6.2 lakh new names were added, 4.5 lakh names were removed, and corrections were made to 11.2 lakh entries.
