Bankura Voter Form Incident Escalates into Major Political Clash
The political atmosphere in West Bengal turned volatile on Tuesday following a dramatic confrontation in Bankura district. Trinamool Congress workers chased and stopped an SUV traveling through Khatra. The vehicle contained two BJP workers transporting thousands of pre-filled Form 7 documents.
Form 7 is the official document used to register objections against voter inclusions or to request removal of deceased or relocated voters from electoral rolls. The discovery of such a large quantity of these forms immediately raised serious questions.
Police Intervention and Political Reactions
Local police quickly arrived at the scene and took the two BJP workers into custody for questioning. As news spread, senior BJP leaders rushed to Khatra police station. The incident occurred simultaneously with BJP allegations that election officials across Bengal were refusing to accept Form 7 submissions.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee displayed photographs of the seized forms during a public address. She made strong allegations about systematic attempts to manipulate voter lists.
"This reveals the current situation clearly," Banerjee stated. "We can see exactly how the conspiracy to remove legitimate names from voter lists is being conducted."
The Chief Minister explained that election rules permit Booth Level Agents to object to only seven names each. She questioned how thousands of forms could be submitted through proper channels.
"In multiple areas, election offices received bulk deletion requests containing up to ten thousand names," she continued. "This practice is completely illegal. They were caught red-handed in Khatra."
The Seized Documents and Conflicting Accounts
Police examination revealed approximately three thousand completed Form 7 documents inside the intercepted vehicle. The forms were organized in twenty to twenty-one bundles with additional loose papers.
West Bengal's Junior Minister Jyotsna Mandi arrived at Khatra police station along with local Trinamool leaders. She presented the party's version of events forcefully.
"BJP workers from Taldangra were transporting these forms to Khatra with one clear intention," Mandi asserted. "They aimed to remove legitimate voters' names through any means necessary. Our Trinamool workers successfully thwarted this conspiracy."
BJP leadership acknowledged transporting the forms but offered a completely different interpretation of the situation.
Former Junior Union Minister Subhash Sarkar explained the BJP's perspective. "Our Booth Level Agents collected these forms after facing refusal at local election offices," he said. "They were transporting them to submit at a higher level to the Electoral Registration Officer. Trinamool workers attacked them on the road, assaulted our party workers, and seized the documents illegally."
Sarkar later visited Khatra police station demanding the immediate release of the detained BJP workers.
Broader Electoral Implications
The incident has sparked wider concerns about the ongoing Summary Revision of electoral rolls in Bengal. State BJP President Samik Bhattacharya issued a stern warning about election integrity.
"Elections cannot proceed if the voter list revision is not conducted properly," Bhattacharya declared. He demanded that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar personally visit Bengal to assess the situation.
The BJP leader emphasized the constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission. "They must provide Bengal's citizens with a pure and error-free voter list," he stated.
Bhattacharya detailed the challenges his party workers faced during the revision process. "When our agents attempt to submit Form 7 to remove fake or suspicious names, Booth Level Officers initially refuse acceptance," he explained. "They claim they haven't received proper instructions. When we approach higher authorities like Electoral Registration Officers, they give the same response. Everyone references instructions from 'above' but nobody clarifies who this 'above' actually is."
The Khatra incident has escalated tensions significantly as Bengal prepares for upcoming electoral processes. Both major political parties have entrenched themselves in conflicting narratives about voter list management and electoral integrity.
