Seventeen members, including the pradhan of the Trinamul-run Malhati gram panchayat in Murshidabad, resigned on Saturday in protest of alleged irregularities on the part of block officials in publishing beneficiaries of the PMAY housing scheme.

The letter, however, was not accepted by Bharatpur-II BDO Asis Mondal citing the fact that Saturday was a holiday.

The incident comes in the wake of a string of PMAY-related protests at the panchayat level. However, this incident marks the first when ruling party members quit en masse to bring the issue to light.

“We resigned because we are aware of the blatant malpractices going on in the name of the housing scheme, which is a sensitive issue for needy people. It came to our knowledge over time that the list we were submitting to the block office was not the same list that they were publishing,” said deputy pradhan Manika Das.

“Still, it is the panchayat officials who have to bear the brunt of hearing harsh words as a fallout of block officials’ wrongdoings, so we are resigning in order to make it clear to the people that we have nothing to do with such malpractices,” she added.

Pradhan Syed Nasiruddin was more circumspect and termed the discrepancies a “collective failure” on the part of rural and block administrations.

“The most recent beneficiary list left out many known poor people in our village who live in huts or under tarpaulins, and instead included names of homeowners,” alleged a resident.

Asked, BDO Asis Mondal said he would accept the resignation letter if panchayat officials brought it anew on Tuesday, and added that the functionaries were not adopting the right attitude to deal with their grievances.

“There could have been administrative errors in bringing out the beneficiary list, which would not have called for en masse resignations. Still, if they bring the letter dated Tuesday, I will accept it then,” he said.

Nasiruddin retorted saying an “inquiry” should be launched into inconsistencies in the lists.

Murshidabad Trinamul chairman and MP Abu Taher Khan said the resignations occurred without formal instruction from the party. “Such an anti-party activity will be acted upon strongly,” he said.

Protests against alleged corruption in drawing up lists of PMAY beneficiaries have been reported from across Bengal. The incidents have put the ruling Trinamul on the back foot, prompting the state government to start the survey to verify the eligibility of beneficiaries.