“Reverse migration of Bangladeshis may impact TMC in polls”, The Sunday Guardian, November 23, 2025
“Since the rollout of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal on November 4, border posts like Hakimpur in North 24 Parganas district have witnessed a marked increase in Bangladeshi nationals returning home, with district authorities and the Border Security Force noting that more than 1,600 Bangladeshi migrants had crossed back in just days. Many of these individuals had lived in India for over a decade, enrolling in voter lists and welfare schemes by leveraging documents allegedly facilitated by political figures affiliated with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
This sudden reverse-migration by thousands of Bangladeshi citizens living illegally in West Bengal back to their homeland, visibly unfolding at border check posts, has raised alarm bells among political parties, especially the TMC, which faces potential disruptions to its electoral stronghold in border constituencies.
Border districts such as North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, and Malda—areas with substantial migrant populations—have historically delivered narrow electoral margins for the TMC. Political scientists and ground reports emphasise that these districts had seen voter enrolment surges, disproportionately reflecting communities of Bangladeshi origin…….”
Read full article at sundayguardianlive.com
