New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- A recent academic study has cast serious doubt on the credibility of West Bengal's electoral rolls, uncovering what it describes as massive irregularities that could undermine the state's democratic process.

The research, "Electoral Roll Inflation in West Bengal: A Demographic Reconstruction of Legitimate Voter Counts (2024)" by Vidhu Shekhar of SP Jain (Mumbai) and Milan Kumar of IIM Visakhapatnam, estimates that the state's 2024 voter list carries an excess of 1.04 crore names, amounting to a staggering 13.69% inflation. The authors emphasize that their approach was deliberately conservative, suggesting that the true extent of irregularities may be even higher.

How the Numbers Don't Add Up

Using the 2004 voter r...