West Bengal’s State Election Commission has taken a stern stance against administrative negligence after the discovery of numerous “ghost names” on the voter lists in two municipalities. The commission has summoned the electoral registration officers (EROs) of Nandakumar in the Purba Medinipur Assembly constituency and Rajarhat-Gopalpur in the North 24 Parganas constituency, citing serious lapses in the verification process for new voters.
The issue came to light during a sample survey conducted on the instructions of the Election Commission. The survey revealed that the minimum required documents were missing for the inclusion of 102 new voters. Of these, 59 were found in Rajarhat-Gopalpur and 43 in Nandakumar. These new entries were not verified by the respective booth-level officers (BLO), a mandatory step in the process.
The EROs, who were summoned on Saturday, reportedly admitted to making errors in the “quick disposal” of a recent surge in applications for voter registration. This influx of applications is believed to be linked to the upcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list, a process recently launched in Bihar and set to begin in Bengal. According to sources, there have been instances of 40-50 online applications being submitted in a single hour, with a large number of these quickly approved.
The Election Commission has also noted a disturbing trend of EROs allegedly sharing their login credentials with colleagues, a practice that is strictly illegal. While an OTP is required to access the portal, the commission maintains that the ERO, as the users of their registered mobile numbers, cannot evade responsibility for the inclusion of “ghost names”. Officials also believe that a lack of proper monitoring by district election officers is a contributing factor.
Furthermore, the BJP has alleged that 49 deceased voters remain on the list for ward number 8 of the Midnapore municipality.
A senior Election Commission official said there was “no need to rush” the process of including names, adding that EROs must take personal responsibility for the verification of each application, stating, “There will be no excuse for this. Otherwise, there is no way but to take legal action.”
He also indicated the need for an investigation into who is applying online under “ghostly names”.
This is not an isolated incident. The Election Commission has previously taken legal action against EROs in Moyna, Baruipur East, and Kakdwip for similar irregularities. A recent complaint against the ERO of Rajarhat Newtown was later found to be untrue.
The commission has also highlighted a growing inconsistency between the reports submitted by BLOs and those of higher authorities. Sources within the commission claim that a significant portion of the hundreds of online voter registrations being processed hourly in some constituencies are, in fact, fake.
The commission official has stated that legal action will be taken against the two EROs for a “breach of discipline” after a full investigation is completed.