Kolkata/IBNS, March 2 -- Responding to the charges by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Election Commission Sunday clarified that duplication in EPIC numbers on voter ID cards does not imply fake voters.

The poll body claimed that this duplication happened due to decentralised, manual mechanism that was followed before the voters' database was shifted to a digital platform.

This comes days after Mamata Banerjee cited duplication in EPIC numbers and blamed the BJP for colluding with the poll body to add fake voters to the state's electoral rolls ahead of the Assembly polls next year.

She said even though Opposition parties in Maharashtra and Delhi had failed to spot this tactic, her party did it.

The Election Commission's...