The Election Commission of India (ECI) has noted discrepancies in the list of 8,505 Group-B officials provided by the West Bengal government for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Among them, 500 are already working as assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) in the voter revision process. The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s Office revealed that the intention was to involve these officials as micro-observers in the voter revision exercise.
With 500 officers already serving as AEROs, the decision to appoint them as micro-observers has been questioned due to the differing roles of these positions. Despite the looming deadline for the SIR hearing sessions, detailed background information on these officers, including their pay bands, is yet to be provided to the Commission by the state government or the relevant departments. The Commission had requested this information after learning that all 8,505 officers listed by the state government belong to the Group-B category.
There are concerns raised about the inclusion of a retired state government officer in the list. Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, criticized the inclusion of only close confidants of the ruling Trinamool Congress in the electoral voter list. He alleged a hidden agenda to manipulate the polls through biased appointments and urged the ECI to investigate and intervene.
