Election Commission Summons West Bengal Chief Secretary over Voter Fraud
While Mr Das, a panchayat accounts and audit officer at Tamluk block, was posted as assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) of Moyna, Mr Halder worked as a casual data entry operator. On August 5, the EC directed Mr Pant to suspend Mr Das, Mr Halder and three more personnel from their poll-related posts immediately and also initiate disciplinary proceedings and lodge an FIR against them.
Kolkata: The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday summoned West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant to appear before it for not following its order to take strong actions against five state government employees including two officers who were recently found involved in the addition of bogus voters' names in the electoral rolls in two assembly constituencies, Moyna in East Midnapore and Baruipur Purba in South 24 Parganas.
Mr Pant has been directed to appear before the EC in New Delhi at 5 pm on Wednesday and explain the Mamata Banerjee government’s stand, according to sources. He is expected to fly to the national capital in the morning. The EC's heat a day after Mr Pant informed them in a letter that though two among the personnel, Sudipta Das and Surojit Haldar, were removed from their poll-related postings, no actions were taken against any of the five as it would have questioned their integrity and dampened their spirit in government work.
While Mr Das, a panchayat accounts and audit officer at Tamluk block, was posted as assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) of Moyna, Mr Halder worked as a casual data entry operator. On August 5, the EC directed Mr Pant to suspend Mr Das, Mr Halder and three more personnel from their poll-related posts immediately and also initiate disciplinary proceedings and lodge an FIR against them.
They are Debottam Dutta Choudhury, deputy project director (monitoring) at district rural development cell in South 24 Parganas posted electoral registration officer (ERO) of Baruipur Purba, Tathagata Mondal, assistant programme officer, MGNREGS at Joynagar-1 Block posted as AERO of Baruipur Purba and Biplab Sarkar, district officer minority affairs in East Midnapore posted as ERO of Moyna. Mr Dutta Choudhury and Mr Sarkar belong to the 2012 batch of the West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) cadre.
