Bengal SIR: AERO quits, alleges ‘disenfranchise genuine voters

KOLKATA: Mousum Sarkar, an Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bengal, has resigned, alleging attempts to disenfranchise genuine voters under the pretext of categorising them as “logical discrepancy” cases. Sarkar, AERO of Bagnan Assembly Constituency in Howrah, submitted his resignation to Electoral Registration Officer Achintya Kumar Mandal, citing a conspiracy to exclude large sections of the marginalised population.

Sarkar, an officer in the Block Disaster Management Department of Bagnan Block Number II, highlighted that around 24,000 logical discrepancy cases are scheduled for hearing from January 14. He claimed that voters possessing voter cards, Aadhaar cards, and ration cards are being denied inclusion due to missing additional documents, disproportionately affecting marginalised communities. His resignation letter pointed to discrepancies in father-name mapping caused by corrections made through Form 8, despite the original 2002 spellings being treated as sacrosanct. The Trinamool Congress described the resignation as an internal indictment of the SIR process, calling it a deliberate ploy to disenfranchise the poorest and most marginalised voters.