Purbasthali: A shocking discovery in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district has sparked a fierce political row between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Hundreds of Aadhaar cards were found discarded in a pond in the Baradanga area of Purbasthali 2 Block, a day after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began on Tuesday.
The incident, involving three sacks filled with Aadhaar cards and other documents, has intensified tensions ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Local residents spotted the cards floating in the pond on Wednesday morning, prompting a swift response from Purbasthali police, who recovered the documents and urged locals to report any further findings.
The BJP alleges these are fake Aadhaar cards, dumped due to fears of scrutiny under the SIR exercise, which aims to purge ineligible voters. Local BJP leader Parimal Mistry called for a CBI investigation, implying that they purposefully destroyed the cards to avoid detection. Conversely, TMC MLA Tapan Chatterjee claimed the cards were duplicates, discarded for being invalid, and questioned their link to SIR.
The sub-divisional magistrate confirmed that police are investigating, but the identity of those responsible remains unclear. Local accounts suggest the faces on the cards were unrecognisable, deepening the mystery.
This incident follows reports of voter ID rackets in Nadia, fuelled by accusations of electoral manipulation. As both parties trade barbs, the controversy underscores the high-stakes battle over voter lists, with the SIR process — covering 7.6 crore voters in West Bengal — becoming a flashpoint for allegations of rigging and counter-rigging.