Siliguri, March 19: The Darjeeling Trinamul Congress has written to district magistrate, Aariz Aftab complaining about the “arbitrary” manner in which the administrative authorities were drafting the voters’ list for the Siliguri Municipal Corporation election.

The term of the CPM-controlled Siliguri Municipal Corporation ends on May 26.

Talking to reporters today, Trinamul Congress Darjeeling general secretary Goutam Deb said it was callous on part of the Siliguri subdivisional officer Gopal Lama to prepare the voters’ list on the basis of 1991 census statistics.

“The administration has other intentions in mind since it chose to completely ignore the figures of the 2001 census. The last census should be the basis of preparing the voters’ list for the civic elections,” Deb alleged.

He pointed out that electoral rolls of the last Assembly elections could not be used as a benchmark to prepare an altogether new voters’ list.

The Trinamul district chief alleged the Siliguri SDO had flouted certain provisions under the West Bengal Municipal Elections (Registration of Electors) Rules 1995. Under this rule, it is binding on the part of the SDO to display a “draft electoral roll” either at the registration office or in the offices of the civic body.

He claimed that the local administration did not take into account ground-level difficulties while drawing up the list of booths in a particular ward.

Lama declined to comment on the issue but confirmed he had received the protest letter.