Mamata Government Quietly Submits to EC Directive on S.I.R. in Bengal

Even as Mamata Banerjee publicly carries on a high-decibel campaign against the implementation of SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of voter rolls, the West Bengal government has quietly thrown in the towel in its stand-off with the Election Commission.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

This follows the summoning of Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to New Delhi to explain personally why the state government was not heeding the EC's directive to take action against officials, who had committed irregularities to include names of fake voters. Later, the state government suspended the erring officials, but did not file FIRs against them, flouting EC directives.

Now, setting the stage for revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal, the Election Commission (EC) has asked the Chief Secretary and the District Election Officers (DEOs) in the state to step up preparations, including making necessary appointments, for the impending exercise.

West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Agarwal sent a letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, asking that the government should fill up all vacant posts of Electoral Registration Officers (EROS) and Assistant EROS (AEROS) immediately so that that the EC could carry out the electoral roll revision whenever it is announced, sources said. Bengal is slated for the Assembly polls in MarchApril 2026.

Following the letter, the West Bengal administration has issued instructions for the "immediate appointment" of more than 600 vacant ERO and AERO posts ahead of voter list revision.

The pending appointments of booth-level officers (BLOS) have also been directed to be completed within the timeframe.

According to sources at Nabanna, the state administrative headquarters, Agarwal, apart from writing to the Chief Secretary, also sent a letter on August 27 to District Election Officers (DEOS) and District Magistrates (DMs).