WB voter list revision row: CS leaves for Delhi to explain non-removal of 'tainted' officers to EC

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, who was summoned by the Election Commission in New Delhi to explain the state government's decision not to suspend "tainted" officers over alleged irregularities in electoral roll revision, left for the national capital on Wednesday morning.

The poll panel on Tuesday summoned Pant to Delhi to report in person to Nirvachan Sadan, the ECI headquarters in the national capital, by 5 pm on August 13.

"He will explain the rationale behind the state government's decision," one senior bureaucrat told PTI.

The move came in response to Pant's communication to the Election Commission of India on Monday, stating that suspending the identified officers and filing FIRs against them, as directed by the poll panel, would be "disproportionately harsh" and have "demoralising impact" on the officers' community in Bengal.