Bengal first check: Rao pulls out 14 ‘voters’

The Congress and the Trinamool furnished him with a list of names they claimed were bogus voters. Armed with the list, Rao made door-to-door visits in Dhubulia, Ghateswar and Khajuri villages and found that in almost all cases, the allegations were true.

For instance, the name of one Gangasaran Biwas of Khajuri village was on the list though he was dead. Some women at Nrisinghapur village were married and had moved to other villages, but their names were on the list, the sources said.

SDO Ajay Sanamat, who accompanied Rao, later said: ‘‘Among the 14 people identified, we have marked 10 and started the process of striking their names off the list.’’

Rao refused comment on his tour but told reporters, ‘‘Give me inputs. You know better about the reality.” Rao, who will be in the district for a week, will visit Shantipur tomorrow.

Now, CPM changes tack

KOLKATA: In a dramatic change in the stance taken by the CPI(M) on faulty electoral rolls, senior Politburo member and chairman of the Left Front committee Biman Bose said on Monday: ‘‘The EC observers are welcome to the state. They should check the voter’s list. We have no objection. We have knowledge that there are many bogus voters in the rolls. They should be weeded out.’’