The Election Commission of India has suspended seven officials of the West Bengal government over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. The action follows reported serious lapses, negligence of duty and misuse of legal powers in connection with the SIR process.
The Commission has directed the Chief Secretary of West Bengal to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the suspended officials. It stated that no irregularities in the SIR process will be tolerated and that the exercise must be completed in a fully impartial manner.
The officials suspended by the Commission are: Dr. Sefaur Rahman, Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) and Assistant Director, Agriculture Department, for the 56-Samserganj Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district; Nitish Das, Revenue Officer, Farakka, posted as AERO for the 55-Farakka Assembly constituency; S.K. Murshid Alam, Assistant Development Officer, Suti Block, and AERO for the 57-Suti Assembly constituency; Dalia Ray Chowdhury, Women Development Officer, Maynaguri Development Block, and AERO for the 16-Maynaguri Assembly constituency; Satyajit Das, Joint Block Development Officer and AERO for the 139-Canning Purba Assembly constituency; Joydeep Kundu, Field Electoral Officer and AERO for the 139-Canning Purba Assembly constituency; and Debashish Biswas, Joint Block Development Officer and AERO for the 229-Debra Assembly constituency.
The role of these officials in the SIR process is considered critical, as any lapse may affect the impartial preparation of the electoral roll.
Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in West Bengal this year. The SIR process is currently underway in the state as part of the revision of the electoral roll.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been opposing the SIR process and has described it as politically targeted and improper. She has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a stay or intervention in the SIR process.
The Supreme Court stated that no stay or obstruction in the SIR process will be tolerated. The Court further said that all officials must discharge their responsibilities impartially and that strict action will be taken against those who violate the law.
