123 Kolkata: After being prodded by CM Mamata Banerjee, mayor Firhad Hakim hit the road on Saturday to identify bogus voters. Hakim chose a neighbourhood located close to his residence in Chetla, which falls under ward 82.
The mayor said he would concentrate first on Chetla neighbourhoods and then move on to adjacent wards to identify ghost voters. "I have asked our councillors to get going and identify the ghost voters in their respective wards. Right now, as public representatives, this is our prime responsibility," said Hakim. According to him, the CM's move to identify ‘ghost' voters has been an eye-opener. "Our councillors will do the initial task of scrutiny after doing rounds in their wards. The matter will then be taken up by our party's IT cell," he said.
On cue, ward no 70 councillor and member, mayor-in-council Ashim Ghosh took a tour of localities in Bhowanipore, including a slum on Rammohun Dutta Road and parts of Chakraberia (North) Road. After an initial survey, both the mayor and the MMiC found some residents whose names still exist on the voter list, though they are either dead or have shifted elsewhere.
Hakim began his journey at 10.45 am from his Chetla home and visited several households in Piyari Mohun Roy Road. By the time he decided to wrap it up, he had visited over 10 households. Among them, he found names of four persons on voter list who are no more and another four who have shifted from Chetla.
Later, Hakim held a meeting with Trinamool poll functionaries of ward 82 and asked them to ensure that the names of the deceased persons were deleted from the list. Hakim also asked party workers to guard against bogus voters and conduct door-to-door surveys of Chetla and adjacent neighbourhoods to make sure that genuine voters are not barred from exercising their franchise in the assembly poll in 2026.
Trinamool councillors and MLAs in Kolkata will conduct a survey to find ‘ghost' voters in 144 KMC wards. MMiC Ashim Bose on Saturday said he found some anomalies during his survey at Bhowanipore. "My survey will continue and I will submit my report soon," said Bose. According to a source, MMiC and Rashbehari MLA Debasish Kumar will hold a meeting of party workers at Uttam Mancha on Sunday to train them to identify bogus voters.
Hakim claimed that the BJP's move to garner votes by unfair means will be defeated. "Our CM has taken the initiative to unmask BJP. The way they took help from bogus voters in Maharashtra and Delhi has alerted us," said the mayor.
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