The Election Commission of India has drawn a firm line in the sand, setting a 17 February deadline for the Government of West Bengal to register FIRs against four electoral officers accused of facilitating the inclusion of fake voters in the state’s electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
According to a senior source in the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), West Bengal, a fresh communication was dispatched to the state secretariat on Saturday evening after what the commission described as repeated reminders went unheeded. The poll body, the source said, expressed dissatisfaction over the state’s failure to initiate criminal proceedings despite what it termed “reasonable evidence” of wrongdoing.
Among those facing action are Debottam Dutta Chowdhury, electoral registration officer (ERO) of the Baruipur East assembly constituency in South 24-Parganas, and Tathagata Mandal, the assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) of the same constituency. The other two officers are Biplob Sarkar, ERO of Moyna Assembly constituency in East Midnapore, and Sudipta Das, AERO of Moyna.
Bengal SIR nears conclusion; 6.25 lakh more names flagged for deletionThe controversy traces back to August 2025, when the commission’s headquarters in New Delhi directed the West Bengal government to suspend the four officials and lodge FIRs against them over alleged tampering with electoral rolls. While the state complied partially by suspending the officers and relieving a contractual data entry operator of duties, it stopped short of registering criminal cases.
In January, the commission renewed its directive, instructing the district magistrates of South 24-Parganas and East Midnapore to ensure FIRs were filed. With no action forthcoming, the latest communication now fixes a clear deadline, underscoring the gravity with which the poll body views the matter.
The standoff has also taken on political overtones. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier criticised the commission’s directive, accusing it of functioning as a “bonded labour of the BJP” and asserting that her government would not act against its employees under external pressure.
As the deadline approaches, the confrontation between the constitutional authority overseeing elections and the state administration appears poised to intensify, casting a sharp spotlight on the integrity of the electoral process in West Bengal.
With IANS inputs
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