Kolkata: In the wake of an allegation of voter list manipulation against the BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee who is an MLA from Bhawanipore directed eight councillors from her Constituency to carry out a scrutiny of the voter list, sources said.
Banerjee on Thursday evening held a meeting with eight councillors from Bhawanipore instructing them to strengthen the party organisation, particularly in those wards where Trinamool was lagging behind the BJP during the last Lok Sabha elections.
Banerjee also alerted the councillors so that any attempt by the BJP to add fake voters could be thwarted.
Mayor Firhad Hakim who is a councillor from Ward 82 was also present in the meeting. Among the others, Sandip Bakhsi councillor of Ward 72, Ashim Bose Ward 70, Debalina Biswas Ward 74 and Kajori Bandopadhyay also attended the meeting.
According to sources, Banerjee during the meeting enquired about the ongoing projects in the Bhawanipore. She directed them that all the ongoing projects should be completed fast and the councillors must take care of the ongoing schemes and projects. She also emphasised coordination with local people.
The councillors will have to take additional responsibilities to ensure that the people can avail the facilities of various state government schemes.
Ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, Banerjee, on Thursday, accused the BJP of manipulating the voter lists in some places and also accused the Election Commission of complicity. Banerjee had presented evidence of fake voters being added from states like Haryana and Gujarat, drawing parallels with similar tactics in Delhi and Maharashtra.
Banerjee also warned that indefinite protests outside the Election Commission’s office would follow if adequate steps were not taken. Trinamool Congress has set up a state-level committee to tackle these irregularities and is pushing for a thorough revision of the voter list.
Allegations of several bogus voters making it into the electoral roll had surfaced from Baruipur West Assembly Constituency in South 24-Parganas where Bengal legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee is the elected MLA. According to TMC leaders, some 4,000 odd fake voters exist in the 10 Panchayat and Baruipur municipality areas within the Assembly Constituency.
TMC has started a booth-wise scrutiny on the list. The alleged irregularities in the voter list at Baruipur West come close at the heels of similar allegations from the Champahati Panchayat area.