Kolkata: Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday alleged a “coordinated attempt” to manipulate electoral rolls in West Bengal, claiming that thousands of Form 6 applications were submitted in bulk to illegally add voters from outside the state. 

Raising serious concerns about the integrity of the electoral process, Banerjee said nearly 30,000 Form 6 applications, used for inclusion of new voters, were submitted within a span of six hours at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

He termed the development “caught in broad daylight” and demanded immediate accountability from the Election Commission of India.

“From 11 am to 5 pm, nearly 30,000 Form 6s were submitted. These are not voters from Bengal, many already have their names in electoral rolls of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” Banerjee alleged after meeting CEO Manoj Agarwal.

He claimed that under existing rules, a single individual can submit a maximum of 50 Form 6 applications, suggesting that hundreds of people would have been involved in processing such a large volume in a short time.

“This raises serious questions about how such submissions were accepted and who facilitated them,” he said. Watch the video below:

Banerjee also sought the release of CCTV footage from the CEO’s office to identify those who submitted the forms, including details of vehicles and individuals entering the premises during the time in question.

Taking his allegations further, the TMC leader accused the BJP of attempting to engineer a “demographic change” in the state.

He named senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and alleged that people from other states, such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana, were being brought in to influence upcoming elections.

He also claimed that BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya exerted pressure on election officials to accept the bulk submissions, an allegation yet to be independently verified.

Banerjee said the party had received “credible reports” from multiple districts, including Bhatpara, Jagaddal, Barrackpore, Noapara and Naihati, where thousands of such voter inclusions were allegedly being attempted.

Similar concerns were flagged in parts of north Kolkata, including Jorasanko, Shyampukur, and Chowringhee.

Citing a purported video showing stacks of application forms at an election office, Banerjee said the visuals point to the “scale and intent” of the exercise, though the authenticity of the clip could not be independently confirmed.

“This is not just about politics. It goes to the very heart of free and fair elections,” he said, alleging that genuine voters were being deleted while “illegal voters” were being added.

Drawing parallels with past elections in other states, Banerjee claimed that “vote theft is not happening through EVMs, but through manipulation of voter lists.”

The Election Commission has not yet issued a detailed response to the allegations.