West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has raised serious concerns over the digitisation of the state’s 2002 voter database, claiming that artificial intelligence (AI) tools used in the process have introduced large-scale errors that misclassified genuine voters as having logical discrepancies. In a strongly worded letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday, Banerjee outlined how the digitisation process has inadvertently disenfranchised millions of voters, citing cases of prominent personalities as well as ordinary citizens affected by the mismatches.

The process in question stems from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which is currently underway in West Bengal. According to Banerjee, in the absence of any existing digitised database from the 2002 SIR, the authorities scanned the old manual voters’ lists, including versions published in vernacular scripts, and translated them into English using AI-based transliteration tools. “During this transliteration, serious errors occurred in the electors’ particulars,” Banerjee wrote. “These errors have resulted in large-scale data mismatches, leading to many genuine voters being categorised as logical discrepancies.”

The SIR draft electoral roll, published on December 16, 2025, reported the deletion of 5.8 million voters classified as dead, duplicate, shifted, or absent. In addition, 3.2 million voters were flagged as unmapped, while the number of voters with logical discrepancies initially stood at 16.7 million. Following scrutiny, the Election Commission of India (ECI) reduced the figure to approximately 9.4 million after minor errors, such as spelling mistakes, were corrected.

Banerjee emphasised that the logical discrepancies were categorised into seven specific types, each relating to anomalies identified during the AI-based comparison with the legacy 2002 data. These categories included voters linked to more than six individuals in progeny mapping, those whose age difference with their parents was less than 15 years, voters above 45 years of age missing from the 2002 list, mismatches in father’s names between the 2002 and 2005 lists, age differences with grandparents less than 40 years, age gaps with parents exceeding 50 years, and mismatches in recorded sex between the old and new lists. According to the Chief Minister, these discrepancies are largely procedural and result from AI misinterpretation rather than genuine errors on the part of the voters.

Banerjee’s letter to the CEC also highlighted several prominent cases where the AI-led digitisation triggered notices that were both unnecessary and embarrassing. Among the affected were Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, eminent poet Joy Goswami, Tollywood actor and TMC MP Deepak Adhikari, cricketer Mohammed Shami, and a monk associated with the Bharat Sevashram Sangha. These individuals received formal hearing notices requiring them to verify their voter details, an action Banerjee termed “a matter of profound shame” for the electoral process. The notices, she argued, demonstrate the systemic failure of relying exclusively on AI for tasks that demand human oversight and contextual understanding.

The Chief Minister had already flagged some of these concerns in earlier communications with the poll panel. On Saturday, following reports that Amartya Sen had been issued a hearing notice, she wrote to the CEC, describing the situation as “deeply troubling” and indicative of flaws in the digitisation methodology. The notices have not only affected public perception of the electoral process but have also caused distress among the citizens, with many questioning the reliability and accuracy of AI-assisted systems in governance.

To address some of the procedural issues, the ECI has exempted certain categories of voters from appearing in person during the ongoing SIR hearings. This includes voters residing abroad, government employees, defence personnel, private-sector employees, and students temporarily outside the state due to employment, studies, or hospitalisation. The exemptions were intended to simplify the verification process and ensure that these voters could participate without undue hardship.

However, the broader concern raised by Banerjee revolves around the fundamental integrity of the AI digitisation process. She pointed out that the errors stem from transliteration challenges, mismatched data fields, and incorrect algorithmic categorisation. “Transliteration from vernacular scripts to English, coupled with automated mapping, has resulted in systemic misclassification,” she noted. This has raised serious questions about the use of AI in sensitive administrative processes, especially in scenarios involving citizen rights such as voter registration.

Adding to the administrative challenges, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal Manoj Kumar Agarwal is reportedly contemplating filing a complaint with Kolkata Police after his personal mobile number was circulated through various WhatsApp groups. The CEO has been inundated with calls and messages, which officials say is hampering the functioning of the electoral office. The situation reflects the broader tensions surrounding the SIR process, where technological innovations aimed at efficiency have collided with issues of accuracy, accountability, and public trust.

The digitisation exercise using AI, while intended to modernise the voter roll, has exposed gaps in the oversight of critical electoral processes. Analysts note that AI-based systems, while efficient in handling large datasets, are prone to errors in situations requiring nuanced interpretation of data—such as age calculations, name variations, or familial relationships. Experts warn that without robust human verification, the risk of disenfranchisement and administrative confusion is significantly heightened.

Mamata Banerjee’s intervention underscores the need for a cautious and hybrid approach to digitisation in governance. She urged the Election Commission to review the AI-led transliteration methodology and adopt corrective measures to ensure that no genuine voter is unfairly categorised as having a logical discrepancy. Her letter requests immediate action to rectify mismatches, re-examine the flagged cases, and implement measures to prevent similar errors in future SIR exercises.

The West Bengal government has consistently criticised the ECI for adopting procedures during the SIR process that differ significantly from practices in other states. The TMC has highlighted that in Bihar, for instance, voter verification was conducted with direct supervision of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), ensuring accuracy and accountability, whereas in West Bengal, the AI-based system has often replaced on-ground verification. Banerjee argued that such reliance on software and automated categorisation, without sufficient human oversight, undermines the credibility of the electoral process and risks disenfranchising millions of legitimate voters.

The AI digitisation issue also raises broader questions about the readiness of administrative institutions to integrate technology into governance. While the SIR process aims to update the electoral roll comprehensively, the unintended consequences of automation—data mismatches, false flags, and unnecessary hearing notices—illustrate the limitations of technology when it is not paired with adequate human validation.

As the SIR process continues, Banerjee’s letter represents a formal appeal to the Election Commission to acknowledge the limitations of AI, ensure that genuine voters are protected, and implement mechanisms to cross-check automated outputs against verified human data. The ECI is expected to respond in the coming days, potentially leading to revisions in the verification process, including enhanced facilitation measures for affected voters and corrections to the AI-generated discrepancies.

In conclusion, the controversy surrounding AI-driven digitisation of West Bengal’s 2002 voter database highlights the challenges of modernising electoral systems in India. While technology offers unprecedented efficiency in handling large datasets, its implementation in high-stakes civic processes must be carefully monitored to prevent errors that impact millions of citizens. Mamata Banerjee’s intervention reflects not only the immediate concerns of West Bengal voters but also a broader debate about the role of AI in governance, the need for transparency in automated processes, and the importance of maintaining trust in democratic institutions.

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