The Election Commission of India has initiated disciplinary action against electoral officials in West Bengal after a serious error was discovered in the draft electoral rolls. The names of several living voters were incorrectly included in the list of deceased persons, prompting the poll body to issue show-cause notices.
Officials Face Show-Cause Notices
On Wednesday, the Election Commission (EC) issued show-cause notices to three Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). Each notice was directed to an ERO from a different assembly constituency: Chandipur, Matigara-Naxalbari, and Cooch Behar South. Furthermore, the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) associated with the affected polling stations have also been formally questioned over the lapses.
A senior EC official confirmed the action, stating clearly, "The commission will take action against them." This move underscores the seriousness with which the EC views the integrity of the electoral roll.
Living Voters Declared 'Dead'
The errors came to light after the draft Supplementary Integrated Roll (SIR) was published on Tuesday. Among those wrongly listed as deceased was Surjya Dey, a Trinamool Congress councillor from Dankuni. In the Matigara-Naxalbari constituency, a voter named Shibani Pal found her name on the list of dead electors.
The Cooch Behar South Assembly constituency witnessed a similar blunder, where the names of Ashwini Adhikary and Shibani Adhikary were erroneously placed among deceased voters. These incidents have caused significant distress to the individuals involved and raised concerns about the accuracy of the voter list preparation process.
High-Level Scrutiny and Admission of Error
Taking a serious view of the mistakes, West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, ordered the show-cause notices to be issued to the responsible BLOs. He also demanded detailed reports from the concerned EROs to explain the failures.
An EC official acknowledged the embarrassment caused by the incident, noting, "It is embarrassing for EC, CEO and DEO, though they are not directly responsible." This highlights the reputational damage such administrative errors inflict on the electoral machinery.
In one instance, the BLO from Chandipur in Hooghly district admitted to the mistake when confronted by the ERO. The Election Commission has stated that it will investigate whether these errors were merely accidental or if there was any intentional manipulation involved.
The commission's swift response aims to maintain public trust in the electoral process and ensure such critical errors are not repeated before upcoming elections. The focus is now on rectifying the rolls and holding accountable those responsible for the oversight.
