When the Election Commission (EC) merely acts on its constitutional duty to revise electoral rolls in preparation for upcoming polls, one would expect support from all democratic quarters. Instead, we are witnessing a bizarre and alarming pattern — a chorus of protest led by the Congress, RJD, and now Mamata Banerjee’s TMC. Their hue and cry over a routine administrative exercise raises a deeply troubling question: Are they protecting democracy, or shielding illegality? Let’s be clear: the Supreme Court, no less, on July 10 gave the EC the green signal to proceed with the electoral revision in Bihar, a state facing elections soon. The Court, in its wisdom, even allowed the use of Aadhaar, ration cards, and Voter IDs for authentication — a practical and inclusive step to ensure genuine voters are not excluded. Yet, in an act of political theatre, Mamata Banerjee has now chosen to echo the tired alarmism that this exercise is meant to “disenfranchise” minorities. This isn’t about disenfranchisement. It’s about disenabling fraud. West Bengal, under Mamata’s decade-plus rule, has become the textbook case of demographic manipulation for political gains. The state’s porous border with Bangladesh, already a national security concern, has been exploited shamelessly by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Illegal migration is no longer just a law-and-order issue — it has been converted into an electoral strategy. From being squatters on Indian soil, many of these illegal entrants have been legitimized with documents, voting rights, and, astonishingly, even elected positions. MPs and MLAs with questionable citizenship histories now sit in legislatures, crafting laws for citizens of a nation they were never part of.
This isn’t democracy — it’s demographic engineering. Bengal’s demographic landscape is shifting at a pace that should worry every Indian who values the unity and integrity of this republic. Districts that were once Hindu-majority have tilted dangerously. The 2011 Census already showed how districts like Murshidabad, Malda, and North Dinajpur were seeing Muslim populations outpace Hindus. Since then, the figures are believed to have only ballooned, especially with unchecked illegal immigration from across the border. What was once a border problem has now metastasized into an existential one. Why then is Mamata so rattled by voter verification? Because this isn’t just about votes — it’s about the very foundation on which her electoral victories rest. A crackdown on fake voters, bogus ration card holders, and illegal Aadhaar-linked identities threatens to dismantle the shadow electorate her party has built over the years. It’s no coincidence that every time the EC attempts any such clean-up, the TMC cries “witch-hunt” and “Muslim disenfranchisement.” But the truth is, genuine citizens — Hindu or Muslim — have nothing to fear from verification. Only those who were never meant to be here are panicking. And it’s not just West Bengal. Similar outcries in Bihar by Congress and RJD reflect the same fear — a fear that their artificially bloated vote banks will shrink under scrutiny. These parties, once rooted in genuine public movements, now clutch at the straws of illegal populations to remain electorally relevant. In a nation where citizenship is earned, not bartered, and where democracy thrives only when its voters are legitimate, the EC’s voter revision drive is a step in the right direction. It must be supported, not sabotaged. India cannot afford to become a country where illegal migrants decide the fate of its elections, where national borders are breached for ballots, and where identity is reduced to a political commodity. The real disenfranchisement is happening to the genuine citizen, the native whose vote is cancelled out by illegality. It is their voice we must restore. It is their country we must protect. And no amount of political screeching should be allowed to stand in the way.
