Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday issued a series of instructions to Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in Bhawanipur after more than 44,000 names were excluded from the draft voter list of her constituency. The directives were given during a meeting held on Tuesday afternoon with eight councillors and BLAs of Bhawanipur, coinciding with the publication of the draft electoral roll.
According to sources, the Chief Minister conveyed a clear message of support, assuring party workers that no valid voter’s name would be excluded. She stressed that the party would stand by all individuals whose names have been removed and would extend full assistance to them during the hearing process.
Mamata Banerjee instructed TMC workers to remain prepared to provide all forms of help at camps set up in every neighbourhood. She also directed them to guide those facing documentation issues to the “May I Help You” camps. Emphasising a proactive approach, she asked workers to even go door-to-door, if required, to ensure that affected voters receive necessary assistance.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister repeatedly underlined that genuine voters must not be struck off the rolls. Coordination between Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and BLAs was discussed in detail. Several BLAs reportedly informed her that they had visited every household during the enumeration process but could not understand why some residents had failed to return the forms. In response, Mamata instructed them to revisit the homes of all individuals whose names have been excluded to ascertain the reasons.
She also directed party workers to verify whether any living person has been erroneously marked as deceased in the records and called for heightened vigilance, particularly in multi-storey buildings. Until now, these responsibilities were largely handled by BLAs alone. However, sources said that the Chief Minister has now instructed all party workers to actively participate in the verification process and to stand by voters who have been summoned for hearings. She has also sought ward-wise reports at the earliest.
Bhawanipur, which comprises eight wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, is the Chief Minister’s own constituency. While she was in Darjeeling reviewing the situation following the recent natural disaster in North Bengal, Mamata conveyed further instructions to party workers through a phone call to Mayor and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim. During the call, she alleged that Bhawanipur was being “completely filled with outsiders.”
The enumeration process concluded last Thursday, sparking considerable interest over the large number of exclusions from the Chief Minister’s constituency. According to the Election Commission, the total number of voters in the Bhawanipur Assembly constituency stands at 206,295, of which 161,509 — or 78.29 per cent — have had their forms digitised.
Statewide figures released by the Commission show that following the enumeration phase, 5,817,851 names, or 7.59 per cent of voters, are set to be removed from the draft electoral roll in West Bengal. Of these, 44,787 names — around 21.71 per cent — are from the Bhawanipur constituency alone, making it one of the most affected constituencies in the state.
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