Neelam Meena becomes new CEO of West Bengal
The 1998-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre is replacing Manoj Kumar Agarwal, who was earlier appointed as the state's new Chief Secretary.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the government of West Bengal to register FIRs against four electoral officers allegedly linked to the inclusion of fake voters in the state’s electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
The Commission has sent a fresh communication to the state secretariat, setting February 17 as the deadline for registering FIRs against these electoral officers and complying with its orders, according to a source in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.
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The CEO office insider told IANS that the Election Commission observed that, despite repeated reminders, the state government had been lackadaisical in registering FIRs against these four errant electoral officers. Therefore, the Commission decided to fix a deadline.
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Two of the four officers against whom FIRs are to be registered are posted in the Baruipur East Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district. They are Debottam Dutta Chowdhury, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and Tathagata Mandal, the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).
The other two officers are from the Moyna Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district, namely Biplob Sarkar (ERO) and Sudipta Das (AERO).
The EC had ordered the state government to suspend the four officers and lodge FIRs against the accused officers in August last year, for their alleged involvement in tampering with electoral rolls. However, the West Bengal government partially implemented the order. It suspended the officials but did not file FIRs.
Subsequently, the Commission again issued directions last month to the District Magistrates of South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore to register FIRs against the four electoral officers.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been consistently criticising the poll body’s order against the electoral officers. She has accused the Election Commission of acting as a “bonded labour of the BJP.” She asserted that her government would not take action against its employees.
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