The Election Commission of India has set a deadline of 3pm on Monday for the Bengal government to initiate action against four officials who were accused of inserting fictitious names in the voters’ lists in two Assembly constituencies.

The EC had recommended to the government the suspension of the four officials and lodging of FIRs against them. But no compliance report had come from chief secretary Manoj Pant, forcing the EC to set the ultimatum.

In a letter addressed to Pant on Friday, the EC directed him to initiate action against the electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) of Moyna and Baruipur (East) Assembly constituencies and send a compliance report by 3pm on Monday.

The deadline makes it clear that the EC would not step back from its decision to suspend the officials and lodge FIRs against them. This stance by the EC could lead to an unprecedented conflict between the government and Nirvachan Sadan, as chief minister Mamata Banerjee had already announced that her government would not initiate any action against the officials.

“It remains to be seen whether the chief secretary sends any compliance report to the EC on Monday. If he does not send, the poll panel can take action against the chief secretary. It is still not sure what steps the EC can take against the chief secretary in case of non-compliance with its directive, as such a situation did not take place in the recent past,” said the official.

On August 5, the EC sent a letter to the chief secretary directing him to place Debottam Dutta Choudhury and Tathagata Mondal, ERO and AERO of Baruipur (East) Assembly segment, respectively, and Biplab Sarkar and Sudipta Das, ERO and AERO of Moyna Assembly segment, respectively, under suspension and lodge FIRs against them.

The EC had initiated action against the officials after the chief electoral officer’s office in Calcutta found during a sample checking of electoral rolls that 82 fictitious names were inserted in the Moyna Assembly segment, while 37 bogus names were included in the electoral rolls of the Baruipur (East) Assembly segment. The CEO’s office had forwarded the detailed report to Nirvachan Sadan, following which the directive from the poll panel reached Nabanna.