‘Heighten scrutiny’, Mamata directs after over 44K voters dropped from Bhawanipore rolls

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday evening held a meeting at her Kalighat residence with the councillors of her Bhawanipore Assembly Constituency and BLA2s, where she issued a number of instructions to her partymen.

It was learnt from sources that Banerjee convened the meeting after 44,786 voters out of a total of 2,06,295 in her Constituency were removed from the draft electoral list, which is 21.71 per cent of the total voters.

Banerjee told her party councillors and other leaders to keep a close watch on the scrutiny in various wards. She stated that her party leaders will have to continue fighting as the 2026 Assembly election in the state is going to be crucial.

According to sources, Banerjee told her party leaders to strengthen scrutiny in KMC wards 63, 70, 72 and 77, which fall under the Bhawanipore Assembly Constituency. A close watch should be maintained, Banerjee stated during the meeting. She also sought the list of those who were called for logical discrepancies hearings, and also the list of those whose names will be deleted from the final list.

Only the elected councillors of the eight Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) wards that fall under Mamata’s Bhawanipore Assembly constituency attended the meeting. These wards were 63, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77 and 82.

According to Trinamool Congress sources, the maximum number of voters were removed from wards 70, 72, and minority dominated 77. Trinamool Congress chairperson Banerjee asked her party leaders to lay special emphasis on scrutiny at ward 77.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), there are around 2,06,295. Out of this, only 1,61,509 have featured in the verified list of the commission. The names of around 44,786 voters were removed from the draft electoral rolls, which is 21.71 per cent of the total voters from this Assembly Constituency. A large number of 44,786 voters whose names were excluded were told to be dead. Banerjee, during the meeting, alleged that many names from KMC ward 77 were deliberately removed, sources added.

This is not the first time Banerjee has convened a meeting focused on Bhawanipore in recent months. On December 16 last year, he held a meeting with BLAs of the Constituency.