Form-7 row escalates in Bengal as TMC intercepts BJP workers in Bankura

Kolkata, Jan 13 (PTI) A political storm erupted in West Bengal’s Bankura district on Tuesday after TMC workers intercepted a vehicle allegedly carrying thousands of applications of Form-7, meant for raising objections to entries on voters' list, sparking sharp exchanges between the ruling party and the opposition BJP.

The incident occurred in the Khatra subdivision, where TMC workers claimed to have stopped a white four-wheeler coming from Taldangra after suspecting that it was transporting bulk Form-7 applications used to seek deletion of names from electoral rolls on grounds such as death or relocation.

The police later took custody of the vehicle and the documents, while an investigation was initiated by the Khatra police.

TMC leaders alleged that the forms were pre-filled and were being transported in bulk with the intent of deleting names of “legitimate voters” during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

State minister Jyotsna Mandi and Bankura organisational district TMC president Tarashankar Ray reached the Khatra police station following the incident.

“Bundles of filled-up Form-7s were being taken together. The intention was clear to delete valid voters’ names by any means,” Mandi alleged, while Ray claimed that BJP workers had filled in “hundreds of such forms sitting at party offices”.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee echoed the charge from Nabanna, displaying photographs of the seized forms. “This is how names are being deleted. Files after files, sacks of papers. This is a conspiracy to snatch away voting rights,” she said, accusing the BJP of “information theft and murder of democracy”.

The BJP, however, rejected the allegations and accused the TMC of intimidation and violence.

Former Union minister and BJP leader Subhas Sarkar said party booth-level agents were legally submitting Form-7 objections to the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer after officials refused to accept them earlier. “Our workers were attacked, the forms were snatched, and two party workers are untraceable,” he alleged.

The controversy snowballed after BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya posted a strongly-worded message on X, accusing the TMC of abducting a BJP worker near the Khatra SDO office for “doing what the Constitution allows”.

He alleged that party workers were locked out of the police station while “around 60 TMC cadres camped inside, turning a place meant for protection into a party office of intimidation”.

“BJP will not bow… Bengal will not be bullied,” Malviya wrote, warning that the 2026 elections would be about “saving democracy”.

Amid the escalation, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya issued a stern warning to the Election Commission, saying the party would not allow elections to be held in the state if its objections under the SIR process were not addressed.

“If the SIR process ends like this in West Bengal, we will not allow elections to take place here. Make the process smooth this is our demand to the Election Commission,” Bhattacharyya told reporters, alleging that Electoral Registration Officers and their deputies were refusing to accept Form-7 submissions.

He accused the state government and the TMC of attempting to push elections with a “flawed voter list” under an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, and urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to visit districts such as Hooghly, Murshidabad, Birbhum and South 24 Parganas to assess the situation on the ground.

The Election Commission, meanwhile, maintained that Form-7 is available on its website and can be submitted by any voter, stressing that submission of the form does not automatically lead to deletion of a name.

“Each objection is verified through due process before any decision is taken,” officials said.

With both sides trading charges of “voter theft” and “murder of democracy”, the Form-7 controversy has turned Bankura into a flashpoint, signalling that the battle over electoral rolls may emerge as a key political fault line in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. PTI BSM SMY PNT NN PNT BDC