Trinamul leaders of Cooch Behar have instructed elected representatives of the party in all tiers of panchayats and probable candidates for upcoming rural polls to strike their names off the beneficiary list of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

The initiative has been taken to counter the BJP’s charge of nepotism, Trinamul leaders said.

“We want to prove our party works in a transparent manner. In case the list has the name of any elected panchayat member, he or she should ensure it is deleted during the ongoing survey. The same is applicable for those likely to contest the panchayat polls,” said Avijit De Bhowmik, the district Trinamul president.

Bhowmik, who even put up a post on social media to disseminate the instruction at the grassroots, said even if any of these people, including prospective candidates, are eligible for a house under the PMAY, they should get their names deleted.

He said many panchayat members and party workers who can be prospective candidates are poor and stay in dilapidated hutments.

“They have meagre earnings and suit the criteria of the scheme but we don’t want their names on the list. It would be an apt reply to the BJP which is making allegations of nepotism,” he added.

Recently, the Centre sanctioned Rs 8,200 crore to Bengal to implement the scheme.

Over the past few weeks, as the survey to verify prospective beneficiaries of the PMAY started across rural Bengal, protests were seen in most districts against discrepancies in the lists.

The BJP alleged that elected members of Trinamul put their own names and also those of people who didn’t need houses as beneficiaries under the central scheme.

“Protests were also seen in Cooch Behar. That is why it seems the Trinamul leadership wants to confirm that their elected members and would-be candidates emerge clean ahead of the elections,” said an observer.

A senior Trinamul functionary of the district said they have also passed a second missive to the rural areas. After deletions, if any of these panchayat members and likely candidates eventually find that a house has been allotted to him or her, he or she should not accept it.

Trinamul’s instructions have only “substantiated our allegation”, said BJP leaders.

“Trinamul has only substantiated our allegation by passing such messages to its members and workers. Our party will keep on flagging the issue before people, hundreds of whom were left out of the list. We are confident that like the earlier elections, people here will support us in the rural polls,” said Subhasish Choudhury, a BJP leader.

In Cooch Behar, BJP won the Lok Sabha seat in 2019. In last year’s Assembly polls, it won seven of nine seats. Two seats went to Trinamul. However, the BJP lost one seat to Trinamul at the Dinhata by-election.