Raiganj, May 21: The below poverty line (BPL) list is probably the last place one would come across the governor’s name.

And yet the BPL list of a civic ward here boldly displays the name of Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The incident now places the governor in the same league as Congress MLA Manas Bhunia and deceased Congress MP A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury, both of whom had shared his fate.

Gandhi’s name was spotted today on a copy of the BPL list put up on a wall in Ward 9 of the Raiganj Municipality.

“It is a matter of shame that such negligence could have been allowed. It also exposes the farcical nature of the BPL list in the state,” said Congress leader Mohit Sengupta, who is also the chairman of the municipality.

Sengupta said the CPM used its supporters in various state government offices to include “thousands of bogus names” in the BPL list. The list is prepared by the district panchayat and rural development office, which in turn recruits employees from various government offices and school teachers, to conduct the survey.

“The purpose of the BPL list is being defeated. The idea was to help the poor. But the ruling CPM is using it to dole out favours to its supporters only. We demand a thorough inquiry into the incident,” said Tilak Chowdhury, the working president of the district Trinamul Congress.

Zonal secretary of the CPM Dilip Narayan Ghosh wondered how the name of the governor could find a place on the BPL list.

“As far as I know, there is not a single Gandhi family in Raiganj. There seems to be a design in it. Some people are out to malign the Left Front government by indulging in such mischief,” Ghosh said. He also brushed aside the charges against his partymen.

Subdivisional officer Dibyendu Das admitted that it was a “matter of shame”. He said an inquiry had been started and the guilty would be identified and punished.