Amid SIR Survey 34 lakh Aadhaar card holders ‘dead’, TMC questions UIDAI’s numbers

The information was shared during a meeting between UIDAI officials and West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

According to officials, the EC is trying to spot the names of dead voters in the electoral rolls and has held meetings with UIDAI authorities and the state CEO.

The EC, officials said, is also gathering information from banks to identify deceased individuals whose names still appear on voter rolls.

“We are trying to locate the dead voters’ names in the electoral rolls. A part of this exercise, we held a meeting with UIDAI officials. After that, this information was shared during a meeting between UIDAI officials and the state CEO Agarwal,” a senior EC official said.

He further said, “We are also gathering information from banks since Aadhaar is linked to most accounts. Banks have provided data on accounts where KYC updates have not been completed for years, aiding the identification of deceased individuals whose names still appear on voter rolls.”

“We are verifying data from different corners to identify ghost voters, absentee voters, dead voters, as we are getting complaints on that. We are not deleting those names,” the official said.

Following the enumeration phase and publication of the draft rolls on December 9, if applicants are found to have submitted forms with names that have been removed from the Aadhaar database, they could be summoned by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) concerned for verification, he said.

The TMC, meanwhile, has strongly reacted to the UIDAI’s data on Aadhaar deactivations, pointing out a striking discrepancy.

Citing Bihar’s past electoral issues, where voters who were alive were incorrectly declared dead, the TMC has vowed to challenge this in courts and through street protests.

The ruling party has warned that it will not allow the BJP to manipulate voter rolls and influence the 2026 elections.

TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty questioned the authenticity of the data, saying, “Today, UIDAI informed the office of CEO that it had deactivated 32-34 lakh Aadhaar’s. But it told something else in the Parliament: that it does not store Aadhaar deactivation data state-wise, year-wise or for any other category.”

“The question is how the data that UIDAI itself does not store, being given to the Chief Election Officer,” he asked.

Leader of Opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, however, on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the CEO, accusing the TMC of inserting names of over 13 lakh fake voters in the electoral rolls.

Former state BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “TMC BLAs are forcing BLOs to issue forms in the name of dead voters. The EC will have to ensure that the names of dead voters are deleted from the voter list. EC can collect data from burial grounds and crematoriums. The Somobyathi scheme of the state government also has data sets, and EC has demanded access to that. Another set of data about dead voters can be gathered from the list of widow pensioners.”

— WITH PTI