Mamata Banerjee says some people are plotting unrest to divide West Bengal

“Keep a strict vigil in communally sensitive areas in the state as some people are planning to incite communal flare-ups from December. You (TMC leaders) have to stop them. It is a challenge for us,” she said.

BJP leaders have been claiming that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is likely to be implemented by December.

In a cabinet meeting last week also, the CM had told her ministerial colleagues that some elements were trying to create unrest in different parts of the state.

Claiming that “VIPs” were using their cars to transport arms and cash to different parts of the state, she instructed the officials that checking at nakas (check-points) should be intensified to keep an eye on the movement of such vehicles.

“Many VIPs carry arms and money in their cars with tinted glasses,” she claimed, also referring to the recent communal tension in Kolkata’s Mominpur area

The Chief Minister also directed the officials concerned to update the voter lists to include all those who have attained the age of 18 and not to exclude anyone on the basis of their religious identity.

She said, “There is a conspiracy to exclude nearly 30% of the electorate living in some border areas of the state from the new voter list. I request the officials to include names of all the people who are eligible as per the Election Commission’s rules. They must include all those who have turned 18.”

She also instructed the district magistrates and police superintendents (SPs) to keep on eye on the preparation of new voter lists and ensure nothing wrong happens in the process.

She said, “The DMs and SPs must monitor the camps where voter lists are being prepared by paying surprise visits there.

The MLAs and members of zilla parishad must keep an eye on the process as well. At times, officials arrive in the afternoon after having lunch and people are unable to update their names on the list. This is a serious job.”

Voting, she asserted, is a fundamental right of the citizens of this country and no one can deprive them of this.

According to a draft electoral roll published on Wednesday, West Bengal has 7,42,88,233 voters, 12,577 less than the year-ago count.

She also advised officials to arrange for stalls for updating voter lists at the ongoing ‘Duare Sarkar’ (government at doorsteps) camps to help people easily get the facility.

Banerjee had on Wednesday accused the BJP of trying to omit eligible electorates from the voters’ lists and asked her party leaders to remain cautious when the revision of electoral rolls starts this week.

Meanwhile, BJP workers, including Ranaghat MP Jagannath Sarkar, staged a protest in Ranaghat stating that no people’s representative belonging to the saffron party was invited to the administrative meeting chaired by Banerjee.

BJP activists took out a rally and wanted to proceed towards the venue where the chief minister was present. However, the police stopped the procession leading to a scuffle between the two sides.

The police detained Sarkar and several other leaders, and released them after some time.— WITH PTI INPUTS