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‘Didi vs. Modi’: A Test for the Hindu Right in India’s Bengali Heartland
The party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been making gains in a state once beyond its grasp, but many decry an audit that removed nine million voters, many of them Muslim.
Campaign posters featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, who is also known by her moniker “Didi,” in Kolkata this month.
‘Didi vs. Modi’: A Test for the Hindu Right in India’s Bengali Heartland
The party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been making gains in a state once beyond its grasp, but many decry an audit that removed nine million voters, many of them Muslim.
Campaign posters featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, who is also known by her moniker “Didi,” in Kolkata this month.
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By
Anupreeta Das
and
Hari Kumar
Visuals by
Atul Loke
Anupreeta Das and Hari Kumar spoke to dozens of voters in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, and Kurseong, in the state’s hilly region, where Mr. Modi’s party has made significant inroads.
April 24, 2026
In India, the world’s largest democracy, a single misspelling from years ago can now threaten a person’s right to vote.
Mohammad Ali Halder, a 63-year-old garment manufacturer in West Bengal, found that out after receiving a worrying notice earlier this year, months before elections to select the state’s next government. The Election Commission of India informed him that his father’s name had been spelled differently in two sets of voter records, making it tough to verify Mr. Halder’s identity. He would not be able to cast his ballot until the matter was resolved.
Mr. Halder, who runs his own garment business in Kolkata, the capital, gathered documents to prove his citizenship — land records going back almost 100 years, his passport and other government-issued identity cards — and filed an appeal. But his name has not been restored, and voting has started.
“I feel like a living dead body,” said Mr. Halder, clutching a plastic bag stuffed with the documents.
Image
Mohammad Ali Halder, center, was told he would not be able to cast his ballot in the state election until his voter identity could be verified.
Image
A land record from 1928 possessed by Mr. Halder he submitted as evidence of his voter eligibility.
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Atul Loke for The New York Times
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