Kolkata: Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that BJP supporters brought in 30,000 Form 6 (for voter inclusions) in six hours at the Bengal CEO’s office on Monday in flagrant violation of rules. Following a meeting with CEO Manoj Agarwal, Banerjee demanded the immediate release of CCTV footage from the premises to identify those involved .“From 11 am to 5 pm, nearly 30,000 Form 6s have been submitted by BJP. None of them are voters of Bengal, and their names are already in the voter lists of UP and Bihar. BJP is trying to get them enrolled in places which will vote in Phase 2,” he claimed.Earlier in the day, Banerjee posted on X videos showing stacks of papers at the EC office. “What we are witnessing is deeply concerning… This isn’t a small issue, it goes to the very heart of free and fair elections,” he wrote.He said under existing norms, one individual can submit a maximum of 50 Form 6 applications, suggesting that at least 600 individuals would have been required to process such a volume within the given timeframe. “We have appealed to the CEO to release CCTV footage of all vehicles and individuals who entered the office,” he said.Escalating his attack, Banerjee accused BJP seniors, including Union home minister Amit Shah, of attempting to engineer “demographic change” in Bengal. “BJP says they want ‘paribartan’. What they are trying to change is the demography,” he said, pointing out how the EC failed to substantiate claims regarding identification of illegal immigrants during SIR.Banerjee further alleged that BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya exerted pressure on the CEO to accept the bulk submissions. “BJP is forcibly bringing people from Bihar, UP and Haryana and getting them included,” he claimed.He also warned of cultural implications, saying: “BJP wants this change in Bengal where Durga Puja will not happen but Ram Navami will. BJP wants this change where you will not eat fish. My land will not tolerate this. Bengal will not become Bihar.”Banerjee claimed legal voters were being deleted while “illegal voters” were being added. He cited specific areas, including Bhatpara, Jagaddal, Barrackpore, Noapara and Naihati, where he claimed around 15,000 such inclusions were being attempted. Similar concerns were raised for north Kolkata constituencies like Jorasanko, Shyampukur and Chowringhee.“Today, we have caught them red-handed. Once the final list comes out, we will go door-to-door to verify who the voters are,” he said, adding that objections will be raised following physical verification. Banerjee said similar tactics were used in Delhi and Maharashtra, claiming that “vote theft is not happening through EVMs but through the voters’ list”.
