The BJP, police and some migrants at the border say Bangladeshi nationals have obtained Indian voter ID cards in West Bengal. Named cases confirm it happens. What is not supported is the scale the BJP claims: the Election Commission has never published a count of foreigners on the rolls.
Claim: Bangladeshi nationals have obtained Indian voter IDs (EPIC cards) in West Bengal.
Said by: The BJP, Kolkata and district police, the Enforcement Directorate, and people queuing to cross back at the border.
What the record shows: Several named cases exist, such as Shanta Paul in July 2025. None had reached a conviction in reports found, and the BJP's figure of 1.25 crore has no support in ECI data.
Where the claim came from
The claim has been central to West Bengal politics for years and sharpened when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter roll began on 4 November 2025. Home Minister Amit Shah said the SIR is "absolutely necessary to remove infiltrators from the voters' list". Tribune Within days, people queued at the BSF's Hakimpur post to cross back to Bangladesh. The Week
What the evidence shows
Documented Shanta Paul, Kolkata. In late July 2025 Kolkata Police arrested a Bangladeshi woman who had worked as cabin crew with Regent Airways. Police found Bangladeshi passports in her name along with Indian Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards. Police said she rented a room on Park Street, used an agent to get a ration card, then got Aadhaar and voter cards, and applied for an Indian passport. She had entered India only a few months earlier. PTI via The Week
Claim · ED Ajad Mallik. Arrested in Kolkata on 15 April 2025 under the money-laundering law, he is accused of helping Bangladeshis get Indian passports and Aadhaar by fraud. PTI via The Week The ED told a court he was enrolled as a voter in Dum Dum Uttar and voted in 2021 and 2024. IANS
Self-reported to PTI Hakimpur. People waiting to cross back in November 2025 told PTI they had got Aadhaar, ration or voter cards through touts. Manirul Sheikh said: "I paid nearly Rs 20,000 to get documents." Imran Gazi said he had voted in 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024. PTI via The Hitavada
Claim · Police Kalna. In June 2026 police detained three people who, police say, admitted buying voter cards for ₹1,000 each through a broker. UNI
No official count The ECI's deletion categories are dead, shifted, absent, duplicate and "ghost". It has no category for foreigners. Reporters' Collective
Context
Individual cases do not establish a number. Suvendu Adhikari's 1.25 crore figure is examined in a separate fact check. The Supreme Court has held that deletion from the roll is not a finding on citizenship, and told the ECI to send doubtful cases to the Union. The News Minute Viral "exodus" videos were also faked. The full record is on our West Bengal voter-ID page.
Questions people ask
Have Bangladeshis really got Indian voter IDs in Bengal?
Yes, in documented cases. Kolkata Police found Shanta Paul with Indian voter and Aadhaar cards months after she arrived, and the ED says Ajad Mallik voted in 2021 and 2024.
How do people get fake Indian documents?
Police and migrants describe the same order: a local address, then a ration card through an agent, then Aadhaar and a voter card. Reported prices range from ₹1,000 to about ₹20,000.
How many foreigners are on Bengal's voter list?
No official number exists. The ECI has not published any count of foreigners removed in the SIR.
Sources
- Tribune: Opposition opposing SIR to protect infiltrator vote bank, says Shah, Aug 2025
- The Week: How BSF is dealing with long queues at Hakimpur, 23 Nov 2025
- PTI via The Week: Arrested Bangladeshi woman used fake documents for Aadhaar, voter ID, 31 Jul 2025
- PTI via The Week: ED arrests Bangladeshi over Indian passports, Aadhaar, 16 Apr 2025
- IANS: ED probes how arrested man secured EPIC card and voted, 11 Jun 2025
- PTI via The Hitavada: SIR sparks reverse migration at Hakimpur, 24 Nov 2025
- UNI: Kalna detentions over voter cards, 25 Jun 2026
- The Reporters' Collective: West Bengal CM and SIR data, 21 Jun 2026
- The News Minute: SC says EC cannot decide citizenship, 18 Jul 2026
