The Election Commission of India has instructed the West Bengal Chief Secretary’s office to suspend seven additional assistant electoral registration officers involved in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision in the state due to neglect of duty. This action follows a previous directive to suspend and file FIRs against two electoral registration officers and two AEROs for electoral rolls preparation malpractices. The Chief Secretary’s office faced criticism for only partially complying with the earlier order.
Now, the ECI has mandated the suspension of seven more AEROs as part of the revision process and has called for departmental disciplinary proceedings against them. The suspended AEROs include individuals from various constituencies across the state, such as Samserganj, Farakka, Maynaguri, Suti, Canning (Purba), and Debra.
Earlier, the ECI had set a deadline of February 17 for registering pending FIRs against the two EROs and two AEROs, as instructed in August last year. Despite reminders, the state government had not taken action, prompting the ECI to enforce a deadline. The officers facing FIRs include those from Baruipur East and Moyna Assembly constituencies, accused of electoral roll tampering.
