Kolkata: The office of the Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has questioned two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) after names of bogus voters were found in the electoral rolls.
According to officials, the CEO’s office discovered that several individuals listed as voters had submitted false information during the registration process. The Commission summoned the two EROs—one from Nandakumar in East Midnapore and the other from Rajarhat-Gopalpur in North 24-Parganas—through their respective District Magistrates, who also serve as District Electoral Officers (DEOs). Both officials appeared before the CEO’s office on Saturday.
Poll panel sources said irregularities were found in 59 entries under the Nandakumar Assembly Constituency and 43 in Rajarhat-Gopalpur. The two EROs reportedly admitted to the discrepancies.
According to Commission officials, the names were added to the voter list through data entry operators, but the Aadhaar and PAN cards submitted as supporting documents were obscure and later identified as fake. “We have found prima facie evidence implicating the two EROs in the enlistment of bogus voters. Once verification is complete, legal proceedings will be initiated against them for manipulation of the voter list,” said an official from the CEO’s office.
Meanwhile, EROs from Moyna and Baruipur are also under scrutiny after failing to give satisfactory explanations regarding anomalies in the electoral roll. In an effort to weed out fictitious voters, the state CEO has directed all DEOs to submit reports on voter list inclusions made over the past year. These reports must be submitted by August 14. “We are committed to preparing a transparent voter list and ensuring that not a single eligible voter is deprived of their right to cast a vote,”
the official added.