Millions in India stripped of vote before critical state election, as government seeks to ‘purify’ electoral roll
Summary
Millions of people in West Bengal, India, have been removed from the voter list ahead of important state elections. The government says this is to prevent illegal voters, but critics say many of those removed are Muslims and other minorities who should be allowed to vote.Key Facts
- About 9.1 million names were deleted from the voter list in West Bengal, which is more than 10% of voters.
- Around 2.7 million people challenged their removal but were still excluded.
- The voter list revision is called Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and is happening across India.
- The Indian government says this stops illegal immigrants, mainly from Bangladesh, from voting.
- Critics say the process unfairly targets Muslims and other minorities.
- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wants to win the West Bengal elections where it has not had much support.
- Some areas with many Muslim voters lost nearly half their registered voters despite people having legal documents.
- Officials who helped with the revision also found their own names removed from the list.
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