The Election Commission of India suspended seven Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) in West Bengal for dereliction of duty during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that they will not be involved in election-related duties but will be assigned alternative roles by the state government. She criticized the ECI for the unilateral suspension, emphasizing that the AEROs were not given a chance to present their side.
According to sources from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal, the AEROs were suspended for valid reasons as they violated ECI guidelines for the SIR exercise. The CEO’s office clarified that the suspensions were based on legal provisions due to repeated dereliction of duty by the AEROs. Despite warnings from observers and micro-observers during the SIR exercise, the AEROs continued to operate independently, leading to their suspension.
Chief Minister Banerjee further accused the ECI of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to remove legitimate voters from the list. She indirectly pointed fingers at ECI’s Director General (Information Technology), Seema Khanna, alleging that names were being deleted without following Supreme Court directives. Banerjee also highlighted discrepancies in the acceptance of identity proofs in West Bengal compared to other states, criticizing the Commission’s approach in the state.
