A man carrying around 250 voter ID cards was detained in Nadia district of Bengal, days before the Election Commission begins the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The poll body is preparing to carry out the electoral rolls' revision exercise throughout the country in phases. Sources say the process is set to start in November.
In the first phase, the SIR will take place in around 10 states, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal. The Commission held individual meetings with CEOs from these election-bound regions to evaluate their readiness.
Bengal, say poll body officials, has a voter base of 7.6 crore.
The discovery of hundreds of voter IDs has raised serious questions.
The police are trying to find out how so many voter identity cards ended up in Kalyani, who brought them there, and who is behind this.
Upon questioning by the police, the man, who claimed to be from Hind Motor in Hooghly district, said he had come to visit his sister's house in Kalyani area of Nadia.
He claimed that he found some voter ID cards lying in the bushes near the roadside and decided to keep them with him.
Suspecting something fishy, the locals informed the police about the man.
The West Bengal CEO office has sought a detailed report from the Nadia District Magistrate on the voter IDs recovered.
The BJP was quick to denounce the Mamata Banerjee government over the incident.
"Free and fair elections in West Bengal have become a distant thought, a distant dream. Under the rule of Mamata Banerjee, booth capturing and vote-looting have become a common phenomenon. Free and fair elections are not possible until the Trinamool is in power," claimed BJP MLA Ambika Roy.
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