Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 10 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari criticised the West Bengal government for appointing B and C category WBCS officers as Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), calling it a violation of Election Commission guidelines.
He said that while the ECI had requested 294 Grade A, IAS, and WBCS officers, only 225 were provided, and they were B and C category West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) officers.
Speaking to the reporters on Monday, Adhikari said, "There's no need to rush... The ECI had requested 294 Grade A, IAS and WBCS officers... Out of 294, 225 officers were provided, but in violation of the ECI guidelines, they were B and C category WBCS officers appointed as EROs. This is completely wrong."
"The Bihar government had provided 1000 temporary data operators to the election commission; Mamata Banerjee's government did not provide 1000 data operators," he said.
Meanwhile, a day earlier, the Supreme Court extended by one week the deadline for publication of the final electoral roll under the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, while also issuing a show-cause notice to the Director General of Police (DGP), West Bengal, over allegations of violence during the revision process.
The final electoral roll, which was earlier scheduled to be published on February 14, will now be released after the extended timeline.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the extension was necessary as Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) required additional time to scrutinise documents and take appropriate decisions.
The Court also took serious note of allegations of violence during the SIR process and issued a show-cause notice to the Director General of Police (DGP), West Bengal, directing him to explain the steps taken to maintain law and order in the State.
The Court directed the West Bengal government to submit, by 5 pm on Tuesday, a list of 8,505 officers proposed to be deputed by the State. It granted discretion to the ECI to replace EROs and AEROs and to utilise the services of these officers, if required.
"From these officers, the ECI may, after a brief scrutiny of their biodata, shortlist personnel equivalent to the strength of the micro-observers already engaged and provide them brief training to assist the EROs, AEROs and micro-observers," the Court noted.