EC data busted BJP’s 'one crore infiltrators' claim: TMC's Abhishek, seeking public apology

Kolkata, Dec 17 (PTI) TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday claimed the Election Commission’s SIR draft electoral rolls have punctured the "BJP’s lies that West Bengal hosts one crore Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators”, and demanded that leaders of the saffron party publicly apologise by holding their ears for what he called a sustained campaign to defame the state.

Addressing reporters at Kolkata airport after returning from New Delhi, the TMC national general secretary said the EC’s own data had "exposed a manufactured narrative pushed by the BJP" ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.

“Those who claimed there are one crore infiltrators in Bengal now stand exposed. The Election Commission itself has exposed the lies of the BJP,” the Diamond Harbour MP said, citing EC figures that show around 1.83 lakh voters categorised as ‘fake’ or ‘ghost’ in the SIR draft rolls - far short of the numbers repeatedly projected by BJP leaders.

Accusing the BJP of maligning the state before the country, Banerjee said its leaders owed Bengalis an apology.

“The way Bengal has been defamed, BJP leaders, who spread this fake infiltrator narrative, should publicly hold their ears and seek forgiveness from the people of the state," he said, adding that comparing Bengal to Bangladesh amounted to insulting people.

The draft electoral rolls, published on Tuesday after a month-long exercise of enumeration, verification and scrutiny, show that over 58 lakh names have been excluded statewide on grounds including death, permanent migration, duplication and non-submission of enumeration forms.

Banerjee stressed that the published rolls are provisional and cautioned against drawing conclusions at this stage.

“What has been published is only a draft voter list. For the next nearly one-and-a-half months, the claims and objections process will continue. All Trinamool BLAs and booth-level workers will remain fully active,” he said.

Banerjee said that in routine special revision exercises, exclusion of around two to two-and-a-half per cent voters was normal, and the final picture would emerge only after the publication of the final rolls on February 14.

“The BJP is deliberately trying to create panic and confusion. There is no need to overthink. There are still around 45 days available for claims and objections,” Banerjee claimed.

Targeting the BJP’s repeated assertions that between one and one-and-a-half crore illegal immigrants would be weeded out through the SIR exercise, Banerjee said the claim had “collapsed under its own weight” after the release of the draft rolls.

“If this theory were true, the Election Commission should place such a list in the public domain. The EC’s own data has effectively punctured this narrative,” he said.

Banerjee also held the Centre responsible for border management, arguing that if infiltration were taking place, accountability lay with the Union government.

“If there is infiltration into Bengal, (Home Minister) Amit Shah must answer. Border security is under the central government. He controls the borders and commands the BSF,” he said.

Expanding his attack beyond Bengal, Banerjee cited incidents elsewhere in the country to question the BJP’s line on infiltration and security.

“Leave Bengal aside. What happened in Pahalgam has nothing to do with the Bengal government. In Delhi, just days before the Bihar election results were declared, people died in a blast. Whose responsibility was that?” he asked.

Banerjee alleged that Bengalis across the country were being unfairly targeted under the garb of the infiltrator narrative.

“Those who brand Bengalis as infiltrators, harass them, deport them and even deny Bengali as a language have unleashed targeted torture on Bengalis. This is shameful and must stop,” he said.

Referring to Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari’s pre-SIR claim that as many as one crore names, largely of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, would be deleted from the rolls, the TMC MP said no such numbers had emerged even after the draft publication.

“Before the SIR started, BJP leaders said one crore names would be struck off. After the draft list is out, no such figure is visible. If names have been deleted in border areas, let those lists be placed in the public domain,” he asserted, without naming Adhikari.

Banerjee also cited reports that around 24 lakh voters had been identified as deceased, saying the figure was in line with past revision exercises.

“In every year's revision, around one-and-a-half to two per cent of names are excluded due to deaths. This time too, around 24 lakh deaths, roughly two per cent, have been identified. This is not unusual, and names which have been wrongly deleted can be restored through hearings,” he said.

The BJP has repeatedly alleged that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas are present in large numbers in West Bengal and have influenced electoral outcomes, urging the Election Commission to take stringent action.

The EC has maintained that the SIR exercise is aimed at ensuring accurate and updated electoral rolls and that the process remains open to corrections through the claims and objections mechanism before the final list is published. PTI PNT BDC