The Election Commission has posted three officials from its Delhi headquarters in the office of the Bengal chief electoral officer (CEO) till the completion of the special intensive revision of rolls, apparently to ride out the “rough weather” that may follow the publication of the draft rolls on December 9.
According to an official order issued by the commission, three officers — principal secretary B.C. Patra, secretary Soumyajit Ghosh and under-secretary Vibhor Agrawal — will remain posted in the office of the Bengal CEO till the completion of the SIR. They will report to CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal.
“They are secretariat-cadre officers posted at Nirvachan Sadan. These officers are experts in handling election-related affairs, including the preparation of electoral rolls. They have been posted in the CEO’s office to ensure it can handle all issues related to the SIR efficiently,” said an official.
Sources in the poll panel said sending these officials to Calcutta did not mean that the EC lacked confidence in the existing officers in the CEO’s office.
“The CEO and other officers have handled the SIR activities very efficiently. The EC felt that there should be more expert hands in the Calcutta office as the situation in Bengal is completely different,” said an official in the poll panel.
A section of officials aware of the development said the EC was preparing to deal with an unexpected situation in Bengal, particularly after chief minister Mamata Banerjee told a rally at Bongaon on Tuesday that things could get turbulent after the publication of draft rolls.
“It is significant that the EC posted three officials to the CEO’s office soon after the chief minister’s remarks. The EC seems to be taking no chances in preparing flawless draft rolls. These officers can provide important inputs to the CEO,” said a source.
Another section of officials said a large number of voters could be called for verification as their links could not be established with the 2002 list.
A source said: “The situation in the state could turn volatile if a large number of people cannot submit the required documents. Since the ruling party has been opposing the SIR from Day 1, the state can witness an unprecedented situation after the draft rolls are published.”
The source added: “The EC is apparently taking all possible steps to avoid any
controversy.”
There are three additional CEOs, three joint CEOs and three deputy CEOs at the office of the Bengal chief electoral officer. The Nirvachan Sadan officers can add value to the existing strength,
sources said.
The EC on Wednesday asked the Calcutta police commissioner to beef up security at the CEO’s office after some people, including a few BLOs, entered the building on Monday and staged a demonstration till Tuesday evening.
“The situation was handled well by the CEO as he met three BLOs on Tuesday and the demonstration ended. The group, which included 14 people, had virtually laid siege to the office. The EC has taken a strong note of the situation as it believes that the security of the officers was breached,” said a source.
The EC letter to the city police commissioner clearly stated that the officers and staff at the office, including the CEO himself, should be provided with adequate security cover at their offices, homes and during commutes.
“This is also unprecedented because the EC did not seek security for its offices in this way in recent memory. These measures point to the unusual things that are happening in Bengal,” said a bureaucrat.