India voter register deletions spark outrage over AI use and poll fairness

Commuters passing through a busy street decorated with the flags of Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress party ahead of the West Bengal state Legislative Assembly elections in Kolkata, India on April 18, 2026. - AP

BENGALURU: Faridul Islam’s name is among the 9.1 million that have been deleted ahead of India’s West Bengal state’s local election from April 23 to 29.

A fashion designer at a Kolkata garment company, he was struck off the rolls because the voter list recorded his name in a manner that was different from all his other documents.