Malda: Acting on Mamata’s instructions, TMC ramps up voters’ assistance drive

Malda: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Malda has swung into full-fledged action following the directions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who asked the party workers to stand firmly with the people during the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) exercise.

The district leadership has begun rapid preparations to assist citizens with every stage of the process.

According to the party, digitisation of SIR forms will continue until December 11. From the next day, December 12, ‘May I Help You’ camps will be launched across all blocks in the district. Malda district TMC president and Malatipur MLA Abdur Rahim Boxi said that extensive groundwork is underway to ensure the smooth functioning of these camps.

“We have instructed leaders and workers at every level to stay alert and ensure that people face no difficulty. All 15 blocks are preparing intensively,” Boxi said. He added that the district leadership has been asked by the Chief Minister to work “shoulder to shoulder” ahead of the Assembly elections, which, according to Banerjee, may be announced as early as February.

With very limited time expected between the election announcement and polling, the TMC has already begun preparing a blueprint for outreach and campaign programmes. “The state leadership will inform us about certain key activities. Additionally, we will call a district committee meeting shortly to finalise further programmes,” Rahim said.

Targeting the BJP, the district president alleged attempts to tamper with the voter list. “The draft roll will be published in the second week of December. At the BJP’s signal, the Election Commission is trying to delete the names of legitimate voters. We are extremely concerned. TMC workers are preparing at the booth level to ensure that not a single valid voter’s name is removed,” he said.

Across several blocks, political parties have already complained of spelling errors in names and surnames when SIR forms—correctly filled—are uploaded to the Commission’s portal. To assist people in correcting these discrepancies quickly once the draft roll is published, TMC has planned to set up the ‘May I Help You’ camps.

TMC spokesperson Ashis Kundu said that voter-rights camps have already been organised in all 19 organisational blocks, including English Bazar and Old Malda. With 3,106 booths in the district, the party has appointed BLO-2 agents in 3,104 booths to assist people under the SIR process. The leadership, he said, is determined to ensure success in the upcoming programmes.