West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is now the latest Opposition leader to raise concerns over the purity of the electoral roll. The Trinamool Congress chief last week flagged several electors with the same Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number. Banerjee alleged that the BJP was colluding with Election Commission to try and influence next year’s West Bengal Assembly elections using fake voters. Similar allegations have previously been made in Maharashtra and Delhi. এই শিকল পরা ছল মোদের, এ শিকল-পরা ছল। এই শিকল পরেই শিকল তোদের করব রে বিকল॥ BJP would be gravely mistaken if they think Bengal is just another stop on their conquest map, another Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, or Uttar Pradesh to subjugate. Bengal has never bowed. Bengal has never… pic.twitter.com/kEAYAEn2KT — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 27, 2025 The EC’s response on Sunday admitted that some electors do indeed have identical EPIC numbers, but they belonged to different states. “EC clarifies that duplication in EPIC number does not imply duplicate/fake voters,” it said. What are EPICs? How are they allotted? The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 provides for an Electors Photo Identity Card to be issued to all electors in order to prevent impersonation. Registered voters began to be issued EPICs by state governments from 1993 onwards. To be sure, an EPIC is an identity document. It does not give the holder the right to vote, which is only available to those whose names are in the electoral roll of their respective constituencies. An EPIC contains an elector’s name, age, residence and any particulars specified by the EC; a photograph of the elector; and the facsimile signature of the registration officer. As per the EC’s Manual on Electoral Rolls, 2023, “every EPIC is issued under a unique EPIC Number” — an alphanumeric series with three alphabetical codes followed by a seven-digit number. This number, provided by the EC, includes a Functional Unique Serial Number (FUSN) for each Assembly constituency. Starting in 2017, the EPICs have been made using the EC’s ERONET portal. The manual says EPICs can only be made online. “A unique EPIC Number is allotted to every elector whenever EPIC is issued to an elector for the first time,” the manual says. In case of a replacement EPIC, the number would remain the same as the original. What is the TMC’s allegation? The TMC has alleged that many electors have the same EPIC number, and thus raised concerns regarding the purity of the electoral roll. Banerjee, while speaking to party workers in Kolkata last week, asked them to verify the electoral roll, alleging that the BJP and the EC were adding fake voters. She said the voters list in Maharashtra and Delhi had been manipulated by the BJP with the blessing of the EC. “After Maharashtra and Delhi, now you are targeting Bengal. We will give you a befitting reply. Once again ‘khela hobe’. I am asking party workers to hit the ball harder this time,” she said. On Monday, the TMC doubled down on the allegation, saying that non-residents were being brought into Bengal to cast their votes using duplicated EPIC numbers. What has the EC said? The EC on Sunday admitted that there were indeed duplicate EPIC numbers, but added that this did not imply the existence of fake voters. The EC said that before the EONET platform was introduced, different states were using the same alphanumeric series for the EPIC cards issued by them. This allowed for duplication of EPIC numbers, although other details on the identity document — name, address, constituency and polling booth — would be different. It further clarified that “irrespective of the EPIC number, any elector can cast a vote only at their designated polling station in their respective Constituency in their State/UT where they are enrolled in the electoral roll and nowhere else”. The Commission added that it would ensure that unique EPIC numbers are given to registered electors to allay any apprehensions. “Any case of duplicate EPIC number will be rectified by allotting a unique EPIC number. The ERONET 2.0 platform will be updated to aid and assist in this process,” the EC said. EC sources said that new EPIC numbers will be issued to those with numbers that have been duplicated.
