Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s instructions, Trinamul Congress (TMC) leaders, including MP and MLAs, have begun scrutinising electoral rolls in their respective areas in Cooch Behar. In the process, at least five individuals, who now reside in Bangladesh, were found to be still listed as voters. Acting on Miss Banerjee’s directive, TMC district president Abhijit Dey Bhowmik convened a meeting and initiated the verification process of the voter list.

Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia and Dinhata MLA Udayan Guho, who also serves as the Minister for North Bengal Development, are actively involved in the scrutiny. Another meeting is expected soon to assess the situation and determine the next course of action. Blaming the Border Security Force (BSF) for its failure to prevent such irregularities, Minister Udayan Guho questioned how these Bangladeshis remained on the voter rolls. In contrast, Sitalkuchi BJP MLA Baren Chandra Barman accused the TMC-led state government of deliberately including “ghost voters” for electoral gains. Meanwhile, MP Mr Basunia and Minister Mr Guho personally inspected voter lists in Sitai and Dinhata, respectively.

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With the controversy gaining momentum, all political parties have now demanded the deletion of these names at the block level. Opposition leaders further alleged that similar irregularities exist in polling stations across multiple Assembly segments, with the presence of “ghost voters” being a widespread issue. The issue first came to light in Nalgram, located in the Sitalkuchi block of Cooch Behar, where five Bangladeshi nationals—Nazir Hossain, Nazira Bibi, Safiqul Islam, Sohel Rana Mia, and Rahul Amin Mia—were found to be listed as voters.

These individuals were once permanent residents of Nalgram but migrated to Bangladesh, where they now reside with their families. Shockingly, many local villagers claim they do not even recognise these names, raising further questions about the integrity of the voter list. In a separate but related incident, TMC leader Kamalesh Adhikari discovered over 20 EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) numbers in Mukuldanga Baro Sholmari, under Mathabhanga Block II, that were linked to electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh. One voter, Dakhil Barman, shared his shock: “When I checked my EPIC number, I found that it was also assigned to a person named Chamanlal in Uttar Pradesh.” Similar discrepancies were reported by others, with more than 20 EPIC numbers linked to voters in UP.

TMC youth leader Kamalesh Adhikari has decided to report the matter to the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) in Mathabhanga, urging an immediate inquiry into these irregularities. As the controversy intensifies, the discovery of ghost voters and cross-state electoral linkages has only deepened the political tension in the region, with parties bracing for further confrontations over voter list irregularities.