Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader courted controversy for vowing to induct Bangladeshis into the electoral rolls of North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
As per reports, the said TMC leader was identified as an ex-Panchayat Pradhan Ratna Biswas. In a video that has now gone viral on social media, she was heard appealing to Bangladeshi immigrants to enlist their names for voting.
“Many Bangladeshis live in this area. If those who have come here from Bangladesh face issues in getting their names on the voter list, they should contact Zakir bhai. All such people should contact this office…This work should be done fast,” Ratna Biswas had said.
Following the controversy, ex-chairman of local panchayat Samiti Jakir Hossain (named in the video) claimed, “Ratna Biswas didn’t mean it that way. Most of the people who live in my area came here before 1960-65.”
“Many people have been removed from the voter list after 1990 who were earlier in the voter list. She actually spoke about helping those people. We definitely provide services to the common people free of cost including voter list correction and all this is done as per the law. She wrongfully stated all of them as Bangladeshi,” he further alleged.
BJP has hit out against the Trinamool Congress and the nefarious agenda to induct Bangladeshis in the electoral rolls. State President Sukanta Majumdar said, “The ruling party Trinamool Congress is already doing this work of making such voter ID cards. The names of the infiltrators are added to the voter list.” He has also demanded a probe into the matter.
TMC leader lied about being Indian, is a Bangladeshi
In May last year, it came to light that a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Alo Rani Sarkar who contested from the Bangaon Dakshin constituency is a Bangladeshi national.
The revelations were made after she moved the Calcutta High Court, challenging the election result and the victory of BJP leader Swapan Majumdar from the said constituency. The petition was heard by Justice Bibek Chaudhuri.
The Court noted that Alo Rani Sarkar was a Bangladeshi national on the date of filing the nomination, election date, and on the date of declaration of result. “From the face of the petitioner’s own document, it is found that the petitioner had no right to contest the assembly election of 2021,” it observed.
“As she is not a citizen of India, she shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the legislature of a State in terms of Article 173 of the Constitution read with Section 16 of the Representation of People Act, 1950,” the Court emphasised.
