Kolkata, Nov 26 State unit of BJP has appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking greater independence for the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, amid the constant attack it has been facing both from the state administration as well as the ruling dispensation in the state.
The BJP submitted a memorandum to the ECI in the matter on Wednesday.
“West Bengal is the only state in which the CEO's office functions under the administrative control of the state home department. In every other state, the CEO operates as an independent department. This structural dependency compromises autonomy and operational neutrality. Despite repeated reminders by the ECI, the state has not taken corrective steps. It is crucial to ensure independence urgently so that the CEO's office can function free of administrative or political influence, particularly during SIR and elections,” read the memorandum signed by West Bengal BJP president and the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Samik Bhattacharya and BJP Lok Sabha members Khagen Murmu and Jagannath Sarkar.
The suggestion from the BJP to ECI comes amid the protests by a section of the booth-level officers (BLOs) involved in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal in front of the office of the CEO, West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, during the last couple of days accusing the latter of putting undue pressure on the BLOs by imposing stringent work deadlines.
The state unit of the BJP also suggested verification of deceased voters using official death databases, besides the use of UIDAI data to detect duplicate, shifted, and deceased voters.
“AADHAAR-linked demographic and biometric data can help detect multiple registrations linked to the same individual, entries of voters who have relocated out of the State, and those who may be deceased. UIDAl verification will allow the Commission to quickly flag and eliminate duplicate or fraudulent entries, thereby tightening the system,” the memorandum read.
In the memorandum, the BJP specially stressed that the ECI should ensure that only senior-level state government officials are appointed as electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs), and independent electoral roll observers for the ongoing SIR process.
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