The Election Commission of India (ECI) has found electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs in West Bengal guilty of intentionally delaying the uploading of identity documents from the claims and objections hearings on the draft voters’ list. Sources from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) revealed that around 120 to 150 EROs and AEROs are implicated, although the exact numbers are yet to be officially disclosed.
Some EROs and AEROs are accused of purposefully delaying the document uploading process, even after the extended deadline for the hearing sessions expired on February 14. This sluggish approach has resulted in a significant backlog of voter documents awaiting upload into the system, potentially jeopardizing the scrutiny process.
If the documents are not promptly uploaded, there are concerns about meeting the February 21 deadline for completing the scrutiny process. Any extension of this deadline would likely lead to a postponement of the scheduled publication date of the final voters’ list on February 28. The Commission is resolute in holding the guilty EROs and AEROs accountable, with actions planned in accordance with the Representation of the People Acts.
