The Election Commission of India has ordered strict action against four officials in connection with irregularities in voter lists. Officials holding ERO and AERO positions in East Medinipur’s Moyna and South 24 Parganas’ Baruipur East constituencies are accused of illegally adding names to the voter list. The ECI has directed that FIRs be filed against the accused, Debottam Duttachowdhury, Biplob Sarkar, Tathagata Mondal, and Sudipta Das.
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The Commission has also instructed the state’s Chief Secretary to submit a detailed report within 72 hours, outlining the actions taken against these officials. The report must also specify which departments have failed to implement the ECI’s directives. The deadline for submission has been set at 5 PM on January 24.
Background of the controversy
The Commission had initially recommended suspending the four officials on August 5, 2025, on charges of irregularities in the voter list. It also mentioned the possibility of filing criminal cases against them. The next day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during a meeting in Jhargram, alleged that the Commission had been intimidating officers as elections approached, setting off a tug-of-war over the implementation of the recommendation.
Nabanna subsequently suspended the four officials on charges of illegally adding names to the voter list. However, the Commission’s directive to file FIRs against them has reportedly not been implemented. Former Chief Secretary Manoj Pant was instructed to file the FIRs, but as this did not happen, the district magistrates (district election officers) of the two districts were directed by the Commission on January 2 to file the FIRs. Even then, the directive was allegedly not carried out.
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Administrative resistance and ECI stance
The Special Commissioner of the state’s Home Department reportedly wrote to the CEO’s office requesting withdrawal of the FIR directive, citing “severe punishment for a minor offence.” The CEO’s office forwarded the letter to the Commission in Delhi. Despite this, the Commission remained firm in its position.
Even before the start of the Special Summary Revision (SAR), the Commission had directed the state government to take punitive action including suspension, departmental inquiry, and FIR against East Medinipur’s Moyna assembly constituency ERO Debottam Dutta Chowdhury and AERO Tathagata Mondal, and South 24 Parganas’ Baruipur East ERO Biplob Sarkar and AERO Sudipta Das for adding names of “ghost voters.”
