The Trinamool Congress leadership is keeping an eye on the party's elected representatives at rural bodies and will remove those not delivering their responsibilities and serving the people.

The warning came from Purnendu Basu, the state president of the Kishan Khet Mazdoor Trinamool Congress, here on Wednesday.

“We have been organising district-level meetings of our organisation (the farmers’ front) across Bengal. At the meetings, we have received complaints about many panchayat chiefs, and elected members of panchayat samitis and zilla parishads who were elected on Trinamool tickets,” said Basu, a former state minister.

He was speaking at the Jalpaiguri district conference of the TMC's farmer wing at Rabindra Bhavan here.

“Let me be clear that if these people continue to spend idle time at their homes, instead of reaching out to the people, changes would be made in all such posts. The party is closely monitoring their activities and we will not tolerate such insincere acts,” Basu added.

With the Assembly elections in Bengal scheduled for next year, the ruling dispensation of the state has intensified its political activities and has engaged its frontal organisations, including the farmers’ wing, to galvanise support, especially in rural areas where the BJP had bagged more votes in the 2021 polls and the Lok Sabha elections last year.

“One such district is Jalpaiguri, where the BJP bagged most Assembly seats and also the Parliament seat. The TMC wants its workers and the elected representatives to move out and reach out to the voters. The elected representatives have an important role in it and so, the head of the farmers’ front has sent a clear message to them,” said a political observer.

While speaking at the conference, Basu instructed TMC workers and elected representatives of panchayats, panchayat samitis and the zilla parishad to visit agricultural fields and speak to farmers and agricultural workers to learn about their problems.

“We should also try to resolve such problems. Some people try to bargain with the party saying they might defect to the BJP. Such people are not required in the TMC and we will not lose anything if they defect,” said Basu.

Mahua Gope, the Jalpaiguri district TMC president, said the booth-level workers should ensure that not a single household was left out of the scrutiny that the party was carrying out across the state to identify “bogus voters.”

“The BJP is trying to bring in outsiders so that they can vote for the party. We will not let it happen and hence, house-to-house scrutiny is necessary,” she said.