Kolkata: The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging a massive conspiracy to manipulate the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal through what it calls “Silent Invisible Rigging”.

According to the Trinamool, a staggering 32 to 34 lakh Aadhaar cards have been deactivated in the state, a move the party claims could strip lakhs of legitimate voters. The revelation came after a meeting at the office of West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal, where officials from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) reportedly informed the CEO about the deactivations.

However, the AITC pointed out a striking contradiction: UIDAI had earlier told Parliament that it does not maintain Aadhaar deactivation data on a state-wise, year-wise, or category-wise basis.

“Today, it was informed in the office of Chief Election Officer Manoj Agarwal by the Aadhaar authentication agency UIDAI that 32-34 lakh Aadhaar’s have been deactivated by UIDAI. But the same UIDAI told something in the Parliament that it does not store Aadhaar deactivation data state-wise, year-wise wise or for any other category,” said AITC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty, questioning the source and intent behind the sudden disclosure.

He further alleged that the ECI, in collaboration with the BJP, is using Aadhaar-linked voter verification to wrongfully delete genuine voter entries by marking living citizens as deceased. Drawing parallels to similar incidents in Bihar — where several living people were mistakenly declared dead in voter rolls — the AITC warned that Bengal might face a similar crisis.

“If this is how Silent Invisible Rigging works, we will fight it — in the courts and on the streets. Mamata Banerjee’s party will not allow its living voters to turn into ghost entries.”

The controversy has reignited concerns over the linkage of Aadhaar data with electoral rolls, a process many privacy advocates and political parties have warned against. The AITC has demanded that the ECI clarify the basis of the Aadhaar deactivation data and ensure that no legitimate voter is disenfranchised due to administrative or political manipulation.

With just months to go before the high-stakes 2026 Assembly elections, this revelation has intensified the political temperature in Bengal — and raised troubling questions about the transparency and integrity of voter verification processes in India.