Tayeedul Islam Warns of Systematic Disenfranchisement in Bengal

Tayeedul Islam, National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India, today expressed profound shock and unequivocal condemnation over revelations emerging from the Special Intensive Revision hearings in West Bengal, where electoral authorities have deleted more than 6.61 lakh additional voters, pushing the total number of removals to nearly 65 lakh ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

He stated that this sweeping exercise, presented as a routine correction of electoral rolls, represents a calculated assault on the democratic rights of millions, particularly Muslims, the poor, and other marginalized communities. The party views the deletions as a deliberate attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party, carried out with the complicity of a pliant Election Commission of India, to engineer electoral outcomes through systematic disenfranchisement.

Following the draft roll published on December 16, 2025, which removed 58 lakh names under categories such as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate, the hearings concluding on February 14, 2026 added another 6.61 lakh deletions. Nearly five lakh voters were removed for failing to appear before authorities despite poorly served notices, while 1.63 lakh were declared ineligible after cursory scrutiny that ignored migration, rural hardship, and documentation barriers faced by ordinary citizens.

Particularly alarming, he noted, is credible evidence that deletions have disproportionately affected Muslim dominated districts including the 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, and Malda, as well as parts of Kolkata. Minor spelling variations, post marriage surname changes, and mismatched legacy data have been used to brand genuine citizens as untraceable or bogus, amounting not to reform but to electoral manipulation on a massive scale.

Tayeedul Islam further condemned the disregard for constitutional safeguards and principles of natural justice, warning that the erosion of universal adult suffrage violates Article 326 and undermines the authority of the Supreme Court of India.

Tayeedul Islam demands an immediate halt to the revision process, provisional restoration of deleted voters, and a transparent re verification monitored by all parties. It also calls for judicial intervention and nationwide democratic resistance alongside all secular groups to defend the integrity of India’s electoral democracy.