West Bengal CEO to seek report into Trinamool councilor's 'dual' voter IDs

Kolkata, Oct 29 The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, has decided to seek a report from the District Magistrate, South 24 Parganas, in connection with a claim that a woman Trinamool Congress councillor was allegedly holding two voter ID cards from different Assembly constituencies.

Sources in the CEO's office said that after getting a detailed report on the matter from the district magistrate, as well as the district electoral officer, the CEO, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, will give necessary instructions on the steps to be adopted in the matter.

In all probability, the CEO's office sources said, the Trinamool Congress councillor concerned will be served with a notice seeking her explanations in the matter, and based on her reply, necessary action will be taken.

"The Election Commission of India, during the special intensive revision, has specially stressed the deletion of names of dead voters and duplicate voters from the voters' list this time. So as per the instructions from the commission, the CEO's office is taking every highlighted instance of duplicate voters very seriously," the CEO's office sources said.

The Trinamool Congress legislator, reportedly having her name enrolled in the voters' list of two constituencies, namely Baruipur Paschim and Kultali, both in South 24 Parganas district, is Namita Sardar, the sitting councillor from Ward No. 7 of Baruipur Municipality from the same district.

Her husband, Bivas Sardar, is the Trinamool Congress MLA from Baruipur (Purba) Assembly constituency, also in South 24 Parganas.

The matter had been brought to the notice of ECI by the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, who had also furnished supporting documents related to the matter.

Adhikari had also requested the commission to immediately cancel Sardar's other voter ID and register an FIR against her for violating election laws.

On Tuesday, Adhikari shared information that Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor's name is listed in Bihar's Rohtas district, under Kargahar Assembly constituency (209) and Rohtas Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar and Bhabanipur Assembly constituency (159) and Kolkata (Dakshin) Lok Sabha constituency (23) in West Bengal.

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