Only those Bangladeshis who support TMC should be there in voters’ list says TMC MLA, triggers row

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MLA Khokon Das triggered a controversy earlier this week when he allegedly asked TMC workers to ensure that only those Bangladeshi immigrants who have shown support for the ruling party in the state find a place in the voters’ list.

“Many new people are coming to the state from Bangladesh…..Many of these people vote for the BJP based on Hindu sentiments. Please ensure only those who support our party get a place in the voters’ list,”: Das, the TMC MLA from the Bardhaman Dakshin seat told his supporters. The legislator was addressing a public meeting in Bardhaman town on Tuesday evening.

In the Trinamool Congress ruled West Bengal, the draft electoral roll revision is currently underway along with the rest of the country.

A video of the TMC lawmaker allegedly urging his supporters to discriminate against Bangladeshi immigrants to the area has turned viral on social media prompting the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to file a complaint against him with the poll panel.

Losing no time in making the issue a bone of contention with the ruling TMC, the BJP on Thursday filed a complaint with the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer.

“We have filed a complaint with the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer on the statement made by TMC’s Khokon Das. We demand that an FIR should be filed and a probe conducted,” Bengal BJP leader Shishir Bajoria said. BJP’s Bardhaman organisational district’s spokesperson Soumyaraj Mukhopadhyay said that instead of doing party politics over the issue, the MLA should inform the Centre and the state government about the illegal immigrants. “This is why we will implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,” he said.

In the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, Das trailed in several wards of Bardhaman town, including in his own area, Kanchannagar-Rathtala, which is mainly home to people of Bangladeshi origin.

In a sharp U-turn, the TMC legislator later clarified his comment and said, “Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are entering our area every day. I gave a message to TMC workers that their names should not find a place in the voters’ list.”

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