Can one individual and his family members be citizens of two countries at the same time? Yes, if the person originally hails from Bangladesh and resettled in West Bengal some eight to nine years ago.
Even as the central government’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across West Bengal and 11 other states continues with gusto, the story of Swapan Kumar Sardar of Chuknagar under Dumuria sub-district of Khulna district provides a glimpse into Indian border porosity and rickety government institutions.
By the time he Sardar, his wife Krishna Rani and two daughters and a son moved to Nabapally in Barasat, North 24 Parganas, he had in his possession all key Indian citizenship and other documents, including a voter identity card.
He had changed his name to Swapan Sarkar. The surnames of his wife and daughters were also changed. These name changes reis name and that of his family members were on the electoral roll.
However, curiously enough, their names continue to figure in Bangladeshi electoral rolls, including one which was updated in 2023.
Sarkar recently sold of his business – a large fishery – in Chuknagar to one Prasanto Ghosh.
But he continues to travel back and forth between Barasat and Khulna without let or hindrance – and now on an Indian passport.
Sarkar’s electoral roll details accessed through the EPIC Number allotted to him show that his father’s name is Dhirendra Nath Sarkar.
Swapan Sarkar’s Part Number is 245 and Part Name is Nabapally Satyabharati Baniniketan – Room No. 4.
He last voted in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections held in North 24 Parganas on April 17, 2021.
Now, Sardar’s details accessed in Bangladesh’s electoral roll reveal that his Voter Number is 470891248538. His father’s name in the Bangladeshi electoral roll is Dhirendra Nath Sardar and his mother is Rekha Rani Sardar.
He was born on July 24, 1967. The name of Sardar’s wife Krishna Rani also figures in the Bangladesh electoral rolls, with her 470891248550 and her date of birth is June 4, 1977.
It is feared that hundreds of thousands of original inhabitants of Bangladesh such as Swapan Kumar Sardar live under same or assumed names in West Bengal districts bordering that country.
North 24 Parganas is among one such district where there has been a steady stream of cross-border migration which was at its heaviest during the 34-year tenure of the CPI(M)-led Left Front regime.
This trend continued after the Trinamool Congress first took power in 2011 even as there is evidence to suggest that both Hindus and Muslims migrated from Bangladesh in large numbers.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) began phase two of SIR of electoral rolls in 12 States and Union Territories from October 28, 2025.
The 12 states and Union Territories where SIR began are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep. The revision will cover 51o million voters.
The central government initiated the SIR exercise as the last such move was done “more than 21 years back in 2002-2004”.
Since then, several changes have “occurred” due to “frequent migration, resulting in voters getting registered at more than one place, non-removal of (names of) dead voters and wrongful inclusion of any foreigner”.
The Election Commission lists 13 categories of “indicative documents” that an individual can produce along with the necessary forms as part of the SIR process.
These range from any identity card/pension payment order issued to regular employee/pensioner of any central government/state government/PSU; any identity card/certificate/document issued in India by government/local authorities/banks/post offices/LIC/PSUs prior to July 1, 1987; birth certificate issued by a competent authority; passport; matriculation/educational certificate issued by recognised boards/universities; permanent residence certificate issued by competent state authority; forest right certificate; OBC/SC/ST or any caste certificate issued by a competent authority; National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists); family register, prepared by state/local authorities; any land/house allotment certificate by government; for Aadhaar, directions issued vide letter No. 23/2025-E of September 9, 2025 and an extract of the electoral roll from a previous year.
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Clearly, on paper, Sardar/Sarkar and his family members possess one or several of these documents. For instance, Swapan Sarkar’s youngest daughter Srabani Sarkar possesses an Election Commission of India-issued voter I-card which shows she was born on June 12, 1998, and that she was born at Nabapally, Chakraborty Para, Barasat. The card is signed by an Electoral Registration Officer and is dated December 28, 2016.
Documents in Northeast News’ possession show that Sarkar/Sardar and his nearest family members are all voters in West Bengal which has a total of 76,622,000 (seventy-six million six hundred twenty-two thousand) voters spread across 81,000 polling stations.
Swapan Sarkar/Sardar and his wife Krishna Rani are also voters in Bangladesh’s Khulna district.
