Kolkata, Aug 5 (PTI) The Election Commission on Tuesday suspended four officers and a casual worker of West Bengal for allegedly failing to perform their duties and committing lapses while preparing the electoral
rolls in two districts.
The poll panel also directed that FIRs be lodged against the five -- two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) and a data entry operator.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya alleged that the officers were compromising the electoral roll at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, EC secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra said, "I am to state that the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, has forwarded a report... informing about the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls by EROs and AEROs of Baruipur Purba and Moyna assembly constituencies."
Baruipur Purba and Moyna seats are located in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts, respectively.
The EC said Debotttam Dutta Choudhury, Tathagata Mondal, Biplab Sarkar and Sudipta Das were suspended with immediate effect, and disciplinary proceedings initiated for their alleged failure in complying with the directive of the poll panel.
Dutta Choudhury and Mondal were ERO and AERO of Baruipur Purba, while Sarkar and Das were ERO and AERO of Moyna, respectively.
The EC also ordered that FIRs be lodged against the four and the casual Data Entry Operator Surojit Halder on charge of violating the policy of data security while sharing their login credentials of the Electoral Registration database to unauthorised persons.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the EC said the suspended officials were guilty of indulging in electoral malpractices in the process of preparation of electoral rolls.
The letter said that, according to the Representation of People's Act, officers employed in connection with the preparation, revision, and correction of the electoral rolls shall be deemed to be on deputation to the EC for the period during which they are so employed.
The EC stipulated the kind of disciplinary action to be initiated for the officials having committed any impropriety ".....in connection with preparation, revision, or correction of an electoral roll or the inclusion or exclusion of any entry in or from that roll."
For any such action or omission in breach of official duty, "an official shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to two years and with fine," it said.
The letter particularly cited a report forwarded by the CEO on July 29, giving "wrongful address of name in the electoral rolls of Baruipur Purba assembly seat where the "said officials failed to perform duty as ERO and AERO while disposing of application but also violated data security policy."
Attaching copies of the EC letter, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said, "After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tried to intimidate government employees and push them towards insubordination, the Election Commission of India stepped in and upheld the law — suspending two EROs and two AEROs for compromising the electoral roll at the behest of ruling Trinamool Congress.
"This isn’t just electoral malpractice, it is a systematic betrayal of democracy," Malviya said.
Harping back to the BJP's Bangladeshi/Rohingya refrain, Malviya said, "If Bengal is to be saved, there is no alternative but to weed out illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas from the voter list.
Mamata Banerjee’s political survival hinges on the regularisation of large numbers of unauthorised voters, a pattern she has followed for years."
The people of Bengal deserve a government chosen by legitimate citizens, not one propped up by "imported vote banks", he said. PTI SUS NN
