The leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari flagged the appointment of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in the state, claiming the state government is violating the norms established by the Election Commission (EC).
“It has come to my attention that many district magistrates have appointed junior officers as EROs bypassing senior EBCS executive officers, which is a clear violation of the EC’s guidelines,” Suvendu said. “As many as 226 appointments have been made ignoring the EC mandated guidelines. This malpractice undermines the integrity of our electoral process.”
A letter to the chief electoral officer, West Bengal, states that in only 68 Assembly constituencies officers of the rank of sub-divisional magistrates and sub-divisional officer have been appointed as EROs, as mandated by the EC.
In 152 Assembly constituencies, officer below the rank of SDMs and SDOs like deputy magistrates and deputy collectors have been appointed as EROs, while in another 74 Assembly constituencies other officers have been appointed.
In the letter dated October 3, the state government has been asked to make fresh appointments as mandated by the EC.
“The recent order from the EC emphasises that only officers of the rank of SDM/SDO/RDO should be appointed as EROs. I strongly request the EC to enforce this directive strictly in West Bengal, ensuring widespread corrections and proper implementation to uphold fairness and transparency in our democracy,” Suvendu said.
Suvendu’s charges against the Mamata Banerjee government has come amidst a slugfest between the ruling Trinamool and the Opposition BJP in the state over the EC’s proposed special intensive revision of the electoral rolls ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.
On Thursday, Mamata had accused the chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal of summoning state officers and threatening them.
The BJP has claimed over a crore voters could be disenfranchised if the SIR exercise is carried out properly in the state.
The central poll panel’s drive to cleanse the electoral rolls in Bengal is happening while the dust over the first such exercise carried out in over two decades in neighbouring Bihar is yet to settle.
Political analyst Yogendra Yadav has claimed about 80 lakh voters in Bihar, mostly Muslim and women have been excluded from the voters list.
The BJP Bengal leaders have said Muslims who settled from Bangladesh will be deleted from the voters list.