Modi Seeks to Win Key India State After Voter Rolls Purged

Just two weeks before voters in India’s eastern state of West Bengal were due to go to the polls, about 9 million names were removed from the registered roll, causing an uproar among opposition groups.

The Election Commission stripped approximately 12% of voters from the list to weed out fake voters and illegal migrants. Opposition groups, however, allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is using the exercise to target mainly poor and Muslim voters, and tilt the election outcome in its favor.