Election Commission Suspends Four Bengal Officials Over Tampering of Voter Rolls

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has suspended four officials in West Bengal after uncovering serious irregularities in the preparation of electoral rolls in the Baruipur Purba and Moyna assembly constituencies. The suspended officers include two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant EROs (AEROs), who allegedly facilitated the inclusion of bogus voter names without proper verification.

The officials suspended are Debottam Dutta Choudhury (ERO, Baruipur Purba), Biplab Sarkar (ERO, Moyna), Tathagata Mondal (AERO, Moyna), and Sudipta Das (AERO, Baruipur Purba). The Commission stated that these officers shared their login credentials with unauthorized individuals who entered voter names into the database without necessary field checks or supporting documentation.

In response to the violations, the Commission has directed the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, Manoj Pant, to file First Information Reports (FIRs) against the four suspended officers and a data entry operator. The Commission has also sought a report on the agencies involved in data entry work.

The suspensions were carried out under the provisions of Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act. The EC emphasized that while overseeing electoral roll updates, these officials act under the authority of the Commission, and any dereliction of duty is a serious breach of trust and procedure.

According to initial findings, the standard verification process involving Booth Level Officers (BLOs) was bypassed. This allowed unverified and potentially fraudulent entries to be added to the voter lists in both constituencies. The EC has reiterated its commitment to maintaining the integrity of the electoral process and ensuring that only eligible voters are included.

This action is part of a broader effort to clean up electoral rolls across the country. The Commission had earlier launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise after identifying and removing approximately 2.5 million ineligible voter entries in various regions.

Further disciplinary proceedings are expected as the investigation continues.