Krishnanagar, April 28: In a significant development, the Election Commission (EC) of India has deleted 9,228 names from the electoral rolls of Nadia’s Kaliganj Assembly constituency during a special summary revision conducted between April 8 and 24 — an unusually high number that has sparked fresh debate over the presence of “ghost” voters in Bengal.
According to EC sources in Calcutta, the names removed included 6,274 deceased voters and 2,954 who had shifted residence and were registered elsewhere. “The deletions were made after a house-to-house verification because of the upcoming bypoll,” an official said.
The figure — representing nearly 3.66 per cent of the total 2.52 lakh electorate in Kaliganj before the revision — has crossed the EC’s usual red-flag threshold of 2 per cent, beyond which a re-verification is generally ordered. Officials noted that such a large-scale deletion in a single Bengal constituency is unprecedented.
“This indicates a serious review by the poll panel, possibly as a preparatory measure ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections,” said a senior government official. “It may also reflect long-standing lapses in ground-level electoral management.”
While annual electoral roll revisions are normally carried out across the country between October and December, the exercise in Kaliganj was initiated early due to the death of sitting Trinamool MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed in February, necessitating a by-election.
Though the bypoll date is yet to be declared, the EC appears to be expediting voter roll updates to ensure readiness for any imminent announcement. However, the number of new voters added — 1,669 — was significantly outnumbered by deletions, leading to a net reduction of 7,559 voters from the constituency.
Observers say the high number of deletions is particularly notable as the 2021 Assembly elections saw victory margins of fewer than 10,000 votes in around 70 seats. In Kaliganj, however, the TMC had won by over 46,000 votes.
The revision also revealed serious lapses by booth-level officers (BLOs), who are responsible for maintaining updated voter registers and tracking new eligible electors. “Only about 30 per cent of BLOs were found to be keeping accurate records,” said a source familiar with the revision process. “In most cases, BLOs failed to file or encourage the filing of Form 7, required to remove deceased or relocated voters. They even neglected to act on their own, which they are empowered to do.”
Political parties responded to the development with caution. While the BJP said it would first verify whether genuine voters were wrongly removed, the CPM welcomed the deletions as validation of its long-standing claim.
“We’ve always said the state’s electoral roll is riddled with ghost voters,” said senior CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty. “This only confirms our fears. We believe the actual percentage of fake voters could be 6–7 per cent. The rolls must be cleaned thoroughly before the next elections.”
A senior BJP leader in Calcutta, meanwhile, noted: “We want to examine the revised list before commenting. It is important to ensure that genuine voters, especially our supporters, haven’t been selectively removed under the pretext of roll correction.”
As the EC prepares for the bypoll and sets the stage for 2026, Kaliganj has become a focal point of a broader conversation — one about the accuracy of Bengal’s voter rolls and the credibility of elections to come.