Raiganj, March 14: Allegations today flew thick and fast with the Opposition charging the ruling CPM with “forgery” in the below poverty line (BPL) list in North Dinajpur district.

Alienating itself from its senior ally and joining the CPM-bashing chorus was the Forward Bloc.

With the panchayat elections barely two months away, the latest allegations do not augur well for the CPM, which is already enmeshed in a controversy about the alleged gangrape of a housewife by one of its local committee members in Cooch Behar district.

Opposition members claimed that the list, “skewed” by the ruling party, included the names of those who hail from the “upper strata of the society”.

“The poor has been deliberately ignored,” they added.

The Forward Bloc and Trinamul Congress have separately registered complaints with the district administration alleging that the BPL list had incorporated names of government employees and established businessmen.

They have also demanded an immediate review and revision of the list.

“The instances are too many. The CPM is desperately trying to shore up support before the rural polls and is currying favours to its cadre. To make matters worse, the racket is being masterminded by a handful of influential bureaucrats,” said Tilak Chowdhury, North Dinajpur district president of the Trinamul Congress.

“The glaring anomalies in the lists will tarnish the image of the ruling Left Front government. We have asked the district administration to be fair,” said Raqbul Baux, a district secretariat member of the Forward Bloc.

The CPM ally has threatened to launch an agitation if the anomalies were not corrected immediately.

The names of Yasmin Bibi, a CPM member in the Congress-controlled Gulandhar grampanchayat, and her husband Mahinuddin Ahmed, a teacher at Nabagram High School in Itahar, feature in the BPL list.

“We had never applied for inclusion in the list. This seems to be the handiwork of the panchayat pradhan, who is a member of the Congress. He must have done this to humiliate us,” Yasmin alleged.

“We have asked the block development officer to delete our names,” she added.

Taziruddin Ahmed, the owner of a rice mill whose name also features in the list, however, played down the incident.

“I see no harm in it,” he said. “After all, who will not like to have an added advantage?”

Zilla parishad sabhadhipati Nanigopal Roy maintained that he had not yet come across any “specific complaints.”

Citing the anomalies Forward Bloc supporters said the names of Dilip Bhowmik (no. 165) Durbar Som (no. 299) and Dilip Narayan Som (no.120) have found their way into the list for Maharajahat gram panchayat in the Raiganj block. All three are local businessmen.

The names of 17 other persons have been enrolled twice in the list for the same area (code number 18030603), they alleged.

Indramohan Burman, who works at the district land and land reforms office, is enlisted in the Mahipur grampanchayat BPL list.

“I have already asked the block development officers (BDOs) to verify the disputed cases, ” said North Dinajpur district magistrate Ariz Aftab.

Debashis Karmakar, Itahar BDO, ruled out any changes in the list.

“The preparation of the final lists is nearing completion. They will remain as they are until fresh lists are drawn up in the future,” the BDO said.