No fake voters, duplicate ID numbers stem from manual system: EC refutes Didi’s charge

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday clarified that duplicate election photo identity card (EPIC) numbers on voter ID cards do not indicate the presence of fake voters. The poll body attributed the duplication to the decentralised and manual system used before the voter database was digitised. It assured that all duplicate EPIC numbers would be rectified by assigning unique identifiers to voters.

The clarification came after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of colluding with the ECI to include fake voters in the state’s electoral rolls ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.

Mamata claimed to have evidence of duplicate EPIC numbers linking voters from states like Haryana and Gujarat to West Bengal. She alleged that similar tactics had helped the BJP win in Maharashtra and Delhi. “The opposition parties in these states could not identify this tactic, but we did. If they repeat this in West Bengal, we will respond strongly,” she said.

The ECI explained that while some EPIC numbers may be identical, other details such as demographic information, Assembly constituency and polling booth differ, ensuring that voters can only cast ballots at their designated polling stations. The commission acknowledged that the duplication arose from the pre-digital era’s manual system and announced plans to rectify the issue by assigning unique EPIC numbers through the updated ERONET 2.0 platform.

Responding to the ECI’s clarification, BJP leader Amit Malviya accused Banerjee of spreading misinformation to undermine confidence in the electoral system ahead of the 2026 elections. He urged the ECI to clean up West Bengal’s voter rolls by “removing illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya settlers, whom the TMC has placed across the state”.

“The ECI must also thwart TMC’s attempts to eliminate the names of linguistic minorities and Hindu refugees, including the Matua community, who fled religious persecution and settled in Bengal, from the electoral rolls,” he alleged.