EC summons West Bengal chief secretary; TMC slams poll panel

Kolkata: The Election Commission has summoned West Bengal chief secretary, Manoj Pant, to its headquarters at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi after the state government declined to abide by the poll panel’s directive to act against four officials and a data entry operator accused of committing irregularities in preparing electoral rolls.

The EC asked the chief secretary of the West Bengal government to appear before the commission in person at 5 pm on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government declined to adhere to the EC’s direction to suspend the four officials and to lodge complaints against them as well as the data entry operator with the police, even as the ruling Trinamool Congress vowed to oppose any move by the commission to launch the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in West Bengal, where state assembly elections would take place in April-May 2026.

Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC general secretary, on Tuesday said that the EC could not selectively say that the electoral rolls in some states, such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh (ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party) were free of discrepancies, but not in West Bengal, Bihar or Tamil Nadu (ruled by parties other than the BJP or its allies).

“If the SIR of electoral rolls is conducted, it should be held across the country, and the first step should be the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet, and the Lok Sabha must be dissolved,” he told journalists at the airport in Kolkata before leaving for New Delhi.

The ECI had, on August 5, written to the Government of West Bengal, directing it to suspend four officials – two electoral registration officers and two assistant electoral registration officials – as well as a data entry operator, who were found to be responsible for the alleged fraudulent registration of 127 voters using forged documents in the Baruipur Purba and Moyna assembly constituencies of the state.

With the ruling TMC joining the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and other parties in criticising the EC repeatedly over the SIR in Bihar and the possibility of conducting the same exercise in West Bengal, Mamata on August 7 said that her government would protect the officials. She also slammed the EC for "working at the behest" of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s government in the Centre.

The EC sent a reminder to the state government on August 8, setting 3 pm on Monday as the deadline for complying with its directive to act against the four officials and the data entry operator.

Pant, on behalf of the state government, informed the EC on Monday that it had removed two of the four officials and the data entry operator from active election duty and started an “internal inquiry”.

“In light of the above, it is submitted that initiating proceedings before a detailed enquiry, against these officers who have consistently demonstrated sincerity and competence, may be a disproportionately harsh measure,” he wrote to the commission, adding: “Such an action could have a demoralizing impact not only on the individuals concerned but also on the broader team of officers engaged in electoral responsibilities and other administrative functions.

The EC responded on Tuesday, summoning the chief secretary of West Bengal to the Nirvachan Sadan.

Pant, according to the sources, is likely to fly to New Delhi early on Wednesday and appear in person before the commission.