The Bengal government on Monday withdrew one assistant election registration officer (AERO) and a computer operator from poll-related duties after the Election Commission of India had asked chief secretary Manoj Pant to suspend the duo, lodge FIRs against them after they had been found guilty of inserting fictitious names in the voters’ lists in two Assembly constituencies.

On August 5, the EC had directed Pant to suspend Debottam Dutta Choudhury, the electoral registration officer (ERO), and Tathagata Mondal, the AERO, of the Baruipur (East) Assembly segment; and ERO Biplab Sarkar and AERO Sudipta Das of the Moyna Assembly segment in East Midnapore, along with Surojit Halder, the data entry operator of the Baruipur (East) Assembly segment. They were accused of inserting several fictitious names on the electoral rolls of the two segments during a sample survey of the voters’ lists.

On Friday, the EC set a deadline of 3pm on Monday for the chief secretary to submit a compliance report.

On Monday, Pant, however, informed the poll panel that only Sudipto Das and Surojit Halder were relieved of election-related duties. He also said an internal inquiry was initiated against all the five.

The chief secretary mentioned in his letter that initiating action against the officials would be a harsh measure before a detailed enquiry.

“…it is submitted that initiating proceedings before a detailed enquiry against these officers who have consistently demonstrated sincerity and competence may be a disproportionately harsh measure,” reads the letter of the chief secretary.

Sources aware of the development said that by evading the directive of the poll panel, the government was waging a battle against the EC ahead of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bengal.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had already announced that the state would not initiate any action against the officials since election notifications had not been issued yet.

“It was not possible for the chief secretary to initiate action as directed by the EC since the chief minister had opposed the decision. The chief secretary tried to initiate some action, but it does not appear to be enough to please the poll panel,” said a bureaucrat.

Sources on the poll panel said the steps initiated by Pant were evasive since none of the directives of the poll panel had been adhered to.

“None of the officials were suspended and no FIR was lodged against them. Moreover, three of the four accused officials continue to discharge the election-related responsibilities even though they were accused of inserting bogus names on the rolls,” said a source.

“A mere internal inquiry against them is not likely to please the poll panel since the AEROs had already admitted their faults in front of the chief electoral officer in Calcutta. So, the internal inquiry by the state government does not hold any importance,” he added.

Thermal power unit

The state cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to set up two 800 MW thermal power units in Salboni in West Midnapore. Aroop Biswas, state power minister, said the units would be set up on a public-private partnership model, and tenders for the units would be floated soon.

“Earlier, two units of 800 MW were initiated in Salboni and the new units would help the state generate more power to meet the increasing demand.

The state cabinet has also approved a proposal to set up a Durga Angan in the state. For this, a trustee board would be set up and the HIDCO and the tourism department would help the trustee board set up the Durga Angan at the earliest. The place for the structure would be finalised soon, said Biswas.