West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party's IT cell is operating from within the constitutional body. She claimed this setup is using Artificial Intelligence to systematically delete the names of legitimate voters from the electoral rolls.
Serious Allegations at Bankura Rally
Addressing a public rally in Barjora, Bankura district, on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, the Trinamool Congress supremo made explosive claims. "People from the BJP's IT cell are sitting in the Election Commission in Delhi," Banerjee stated. She elaborated that by feeding false information to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and leveraging AI technology, they have engineered the removal of approximately 54 to 58 lakh names from the voter list.
The Chief Minister's allegations come in the backdrop of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The first phase of this exercise has already seen around 58 lakh names deleted. Expressing deep concern over the pace of the revision, Banerjee questioned the EC's "hurriedness" to complete the entire process within a compressed timeframe of two months.
Threat of Protest and Claims of Harassment
Mamata Banerjee issued a direct warning to the Election Commission, declaring that her party would not remain a silent spectator. "If even a single legitimate voter's name is deleted, the TMC will gherao the office of the Election Commission in Delhi," she asserted. She urged the public to protect their voting rights and, if necessary, to surround the authorities responsible.
She further claimed that the anxiety and distress caused by the SIR process had already led to nearly 60 deaths. Targeting the BJP's narrative around the revision, she dismissed justifications that the exercise was meant to weed out "infiltrators and Rohingyas." "No one who was born here can be removed from their own land," she emphasized.
Specific Grievances and Discrepancies Cited
Banerjee highlighted specific irregularities to bolster her accusations. She pointed out trivial discrepancies leading to deletions, such as anglicized spelling variations. "Someone's surname is Singha. In English, that becomes Sinha. That's it, and the ECI is removing their name," she cited as an example.
She also referenced allegations previously made by TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee against DIG (IT) Seema Khanna of the EC, suggesting a BJP link within the commission. Furthermore, she expressed outrage that her party's Booth Level Agents were being barred from hearing rooms and that even family members of TMP MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar were being summoned for SIR hearings.
The Chief Minister advised all voters whose names have been deleted to immediately reapply using Forms 7 and 8, reiterating that enrollment is their fundamental right. She challenged the EC's methods, questioning the legality of decisions communicated via informal channels like WhatsApp and vowing to take the matter to court and the "people's court."
