The Election Commission of India (ECI) has found 25000 voter ID Cards with the same numbers in 11 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in West Bengal.
According to a report by The Telegraph, the discovery was made days after the State Chief Electoral Officer released the draft voter list bearing 7.4 crore names. About 16 lakh names were either deleted or corrected.
2 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in particular, Bongaon Dakshin and Matigara-Naxalbari had the most voter IDs with the same numbers. Interestingly, both share their border with neighbouring countries.
While Bongaon Dakshin borders Bangladesh, the Matigara-Naxabari constituency is located along the Nepal border. The latest revelations lend credence to the accusations of ‘bogus voters in electoral rolls of West Bengal.
Other affected Vidhan Sabha constituencies include Madhyamgram, Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Canning Purba, Baruipur Purba and Paschim, Kurseong, Siliguri, Bongaon Uttar, and Falakata.
An ECI official told The Telegraph, “We have asked the district’s administration to physically verify all cards and remove duplicates from the electoral roll…We are probing if it is a human error or a result of a malicious scheme to pass off foreigners as Indians.”
