Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday said that the party would form district-level core committees within the next five days to focus on scrutiny of the voters’ list in the state as part of its efforts to weed out “fake voters”.
Additionally, block-level, ward-level, and panchayat-level committees will also be formed by April 3. Abhishek, who is considered number two in the TMC, made this declaration during a virtual meeting with over 4,500 party leaders.
The Diamond Harbour MP said that a zila committee will be formed within the next five days to oversee the voter inspection process. A block committee will be formed from March 21-27, and from March 28 to April 3, anchal and ward committee will be formed for the inspection process. From April 16, the verification process will begin in every block of the state, he said.
Banerjee also informed that new district to block-level president names will be announced soon, with selections based on performance.
Abhishek also informed that I-PAC will assist the party to identify fake voters in the list and to ensure that the process is carried out effectively, all committees will undergo training.
“Training camps will be organised once all committees will be formed,” he said. IPAC is the political consultancy firm employed by TMC in the 2021 assembly polls and later.
Addressing concerns about extortion attempts the TMC leader said, “We have noticed many people trying to extort money in the name of I-PAC or from the office of Abhishek Banerjee. We filed police complaint against those persons. A phone number has been shared to report if anyone tries to claim from I-PAC and dupe leaders.”
“If anyone comes with an I-PAC identity, verify his or her identity with the district president or our office,” said Banerjee.
He also called upon party leaders to focus on Assembly seats where the TMC did not perform as expected in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
During the virtual meeting, Banerjee described how BJP planned to insert fake names in the voters list in Maharashtra and Delhi to win the Assembly elections. He cited examples on “how 39 lakh voters were added in four months to win Maharashtra elections.”
The All India Trinamool Congress later on X announced, “On 27th February, Smt. @MamataOfficial exposed the ECI’s fake voter scam, revealing a grave threat to free and fair elections. Today, our Nat’l GS, Shri @abhishekaitc, and State President, Shri Subrata Bakshi, convened a key virtual party meeting to address this issue and chart the next course of action. We stand firm against electoral malpractice—democracy cannot be compromised!”
Last month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accused the BJP of adding fake voters from other states to the electoral rolls with the alleged backing of the Election Commission (EC), claiming that the party had used similar tactics to secure victories in the Delhi and Maharashtra Assembly elections. She also made a statement that a core committee to see such complaints of fake voters.
Following which, the core committee had a meeting on March 6 where Abhishek Banerjee was not present. After the meeting, TMC state president Subrata Bakshi announced that Abhishek will hold a meeting on March 15 and address the issue of fake voters.