Siliguri, March 3 -- Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's directive, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has launched a voter list scrutiny drive across various districts of North Bengal.

The presence of fake voter names has once again come to light in South Dinajpur. In Balurghat's Ward No. 5, a woman named Dalia Roy was found to have an EPIC number also assigned to a man named Bharat Bhai Prajapati from Gujarat. In Gangarampur's Ratanpur area, a local resident Taslim Miya's EPIC number was assigned to someone from Gujarat. Balurghat Municipality chairman Ashok Mitra confirmed the irregularities, stating: "As per our leader's instructions, we are reviewing voter lists and have found cases of duplicate EPIC numbers. The matter will be reported to the state leadership." He also mentioned that door-to-door verification had begun.

In another instance, Sougata Kumar Saha from Rajibpur, Gangarampur, lost his voter identity after applying for a transfer to Kushmandi. His EPIC number was reassigned to Kharataram Choudhary from Gujarat, leaving him in an identity crisis. BJP South Dinajpur Secretary Bapi Sarkar demanded an investigation, stating that the party has already launched a movement against illegal voters. To ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls, Raiganj MLA Krishna Kalyani, accompanied by Sandip Biswas and Arindum Sarkar-chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Board of Administrators of Raiganj Municipality, respectively initiated a door-to-door voter list verification drive.

The team commenced their survey in Ward No. 3 at Ashokpally, Raiganj, visiting various households to scrutinise the voter list. Krishna Kalyani stated: "On Monday, we visited different houses in Ward No. 3 in Raiganj and found the names of some persons have been deleted from the voter list without any reason. We collected their names and will bring this to the notice of the district administration officials soon." Extending their efforts beyond urban areas, the team has also initiated similar surveys in various Gram Panchayat regions. They aim to complete this comprehensive verification process by the end of the week, ensuring that all eligible voters are rightfully included in the electoral rolls.

On Tuesday morning, Rajya Sabha MP and TMC Alipurduar district President Prakash Chik Baraik, along with several party leaders and workers, reviewed the voter list in the Barobisha area of the Kumargram Assembly Constituency.

He stated: "A district-wide scrutiny is underway to identify fake voters. Any discrepancies, such as dual EPIC identities, will be reported to the Election Commission for necessary legal action."

Alipurduar MLA Suman Kanjilal led a similar drive in Vivekananda GP, warning voters about electoral malpractices. He said: "Fake voters in Delhi and Maharashtra helped BJP win elections. We won't allow it here."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.