Bengal voter list scam: 127 fake entries flagged, CEO orders probe
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The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's office has flagged major irregularities during sample checking of voters' lists in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts. According to sources in the know, a large number of 'fictitious voters' — whose names were allegedly submitted and entered by two EROs without BLO verification — was detected.This development comes amid ongoing allegations from both the opposition BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress on inclusion of bogus voters.West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal told ET that for two EROs, 127 fictitious voters were identified, and appropriate action will be taken against them.Agarwal has directed all the district election officers (DEOs) to form 'a team of senior officers' and conduct 'sample checking of all Form 6 disposals done during the last one year and send a report to the Bengal CEO by August 14'.The two EROs allegedly were instrumental in accepting a considerable 'large number of fictitious voters', according to EC officials.Sources told ET that one document was submitted multiple times for a large number of fictitious voters as supporting documents and no BLO verification was done.During sample checking of Form 6, it was found that the EROs allegedly uploaded the same documents of voters, they said.'Both the EROs have admitted that they had provided user access to the ERONet to the AERO/OC Election in BDO office' and thereafter the 'casual data entry operators' had allegedly 'disposed of the Form 6 applications', EC officials said.The CEO directed that 'appropriate action' be taken in these cases, while DEOs have been directed to 'ensure that the OC Election posted in BDO Office and Casual/Daily Wages Contractual Data Entry Operators are not involved in the disposal of Form 6, 7, 8 or for the discharge of any of the functions and duties in ERONet'.On Monday, leader of opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India over the alleged increase in voter registration applications (70,000), urging the poll body to exclude domicile certificates, allegedly issued after July 25, if the SIR is implemented in West Bengal.Adhikari said the huge rise in Form 6 submission and reports of domicile certificate issuance raised concerns about the state government's 'unethical and illegal efforts' to facilitate the 'legitimising of the infiltrating Rohingya Muslims and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants' to manipulate voter lists.
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