Key Points

According to Adhikari, the seniority aspect of bureaucrats was ignored in many cases during the selection of EROs.

"I urge the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take immediate action to address the numerous anomalies in the appointment of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) across West Bengal. It has come to my attention that many District Magistrates have appointed junior Officers as EROs, bypassing senior West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS)-- Executive officers, which is a clear violation of the ECI's guidelines," the LOP said in a social media post issued on Friday.

Adhikari had also furnished a list of 226 such EROs, whose selection, according to him, was made ignoring the ECI-mandated guidelines on this count. This malpractice, he added, has undermined the integrity of our electoral process.

Adhikari has pointed out that ECI had emphasised that WBCS cadre officers attaining the ranks of sub-divisional magistrates and rural development officers have to be appointed as EROs.

"I strongly request the ECI to enforce this directive strictly in West Bengal, ensuring widespread corrections and proper implementation to uphold fairness and transparency in our democracy," the LOP said.

The role of EROs is extremely crucial in the chain of command of electoral officers at the district level, especially in the case of the SIR. The forms and applications processed by a booth-level officer (BLOs), the lowest layer in the command chain, are first examined by the assistant election returning officers (AEROs) before finally being cleared by the EROs.

In a way, an ERO acts as a link between his or her subordinate layers of BLOs and AEROs and his or her superior levels of additional district magistrate (election) and the district magistrate, who is also the district election officer.

- IANS