Norms followed: EC on Mamata’s voter list claim
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal has dismissed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegations of electoral manipulation, asserting that the process of updating voter rolls adheres to established legal protocols.
The statement from the poll body came in response to Banerjee’s accusations that the BJP had added fake voters to influence elections in the state. On Friday, the West Bengal CEO addressed the claims through a post on X, explaining the procedures involved in updating electoral rolls.
“As per RP Act 1950, Registration of Electors Rules 1960, and the Manual on Electoral Rolls, concerned BLOs, AEROs, EROs, DEOs and CEOs in any State/UT to update Electoral Rolls,” the post read. “This is done with active participation of Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties. Any specific claim or objections are to be made first before the concerned 80,633 BLOs, 3,049 AEROs and 294 EROs in West Bengal.”
The response came after Banerjee announced the formation of a committee to examine alleged irregularities in voter lists across the state. On February 27, the Chief Minister had accused the BJP of manipulating voter lists, drawing comparisons to alleged electoral malpractices in Maharashtra and Delhi.
She claimed that the BJP had used similar tactics in other states. “Sitting in the EC’s office, they have created a fake voter’s list online and in every district of West Bengal, fake voters have been added,” Mamata stated.
