The Commission has suspended four senior West Bengal Civil Service officers and ordered FIRs against them and a data entry operator for illegally adding fictitious voters, leaking login credentials, and compromising the highly secure ERO Net database used to manage India’s electoral rolls. The Bengal scandal, which unfolded in Baruipur Purba and Moyna constituencies, follows a politically charged controversy in Bihar, where Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera, and Tejashwi Yadav had falsely accused the ECI of allowing the BJP to manipulate the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The scandal, which unfolded in Baruipur Purba (South 24 Parganas) and Moyna (Purba Medinipur) Assembly constituencies, may be just the tip of the iceberg.
Election Commission has suspended 2 ERO (Electoral Registration Office) and 2 AERO (Assistant Electoral Registration Officers) for committing grave lapses and failing to perform their duties, violating the policy of data security while sharing their login credentials of the ER… pic.twitter.com/gjD1lCrQrw
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2025
Who’s Involved: Top WBCS officers suspended, FIRs filed
The four suspended officials are senior bureaucrats from the West Bengal Civil Service (Executive):
- Debottam Dutta Choudhury – Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)
- Biplab Sarkar – Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)
- Tathagata Mandal – Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO)
- Sudipta Das – Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO)
In addition, an FIR is being filed against Surojeet Halder, a casual data entry operator, for his role in facilitating unauthorised access to ERO Net, the centralised and secure digital platform used for managing the country’s electoral rolls.
The ECI stated in its report to the West Bengal Chief Secretary that these officers “violated their responsibilities and shared login credentials of the electoral roll database with unauthorised persons, leading to the wrongful addition of names to the rolls.”
Modus Operandi: How Bengal’s Electoral rolls were compromised
According to internal ECI findings, the officers:
- Approved large volumes of Form 6 applications — used for registering new voters — many of which were linked to fictitious individuals or lacked basic identity verification.
- Bypassed mandatory field verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), a critical step in preventing fake or illegal voter registrations.
- Shared user access and passwords to the ERO Net system, effectively handing control of electoral data to outsiders — a flagrant breach of national security protocols.
This brazen sabotage of the electoral system was detected during a routine general revision of the electoral rolls. A subsequent probe by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, and later corroborated by central authorities, confirmed widespread anomalies and procedural violations.
The ECI noted that the misconduct “not only eroded institutional integrity but constituted potential criminal breach of trust under the Representation of the People Act and Indian Penal Code.”
BJP leaders have pounced on the scandal, calling it “proof of TMC’s systematic and institutionalised electoral fraud.” BJP IT cell head, Amit Malviya, directly accused the Trinamool government of using fake voters to retain power in a state marred by violent elections and widespread allegations of rigging.
“This is not an isolated lapse — it’s a methodical plot to subvert democracy. Dead voters, illegal Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, and duplicate entries have long been part of Bengal’s rigged voter rolls under TMC’s watch. The ECI’s action vindicates our stand,” said Malviya.
Echoing this, Samik Bhattacharya, BJP State President and Rajya Sabha MP, said, “Bengal’s elections have become a joke. Every voter knows that genuine citizens are being disenfranchised while fake voters are being ushered in to prop up a corrupt regime.” He added that the people of Bengal deserve a voter roll that reflects actual Indian citizens, not illegal immigrants or manufactured identities.
In light of this electoral scandal, the ECI has directed all District Election Officers (DEOs) in Bengal to conduct a year-long review of all Form 6 approvals. Special teams comprising senior IAS officers have been deployed in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur to investigate how deep the rot goes.
This revelation has also accelerated discussions within the ECI about conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter rolls in West Bengal — similar to the one recently carried out in Bihar, which uncovered massive electoral roll fraud and led to over 50 arrests and 400 FIRs.
If approved, the SIR in Bengal would entail:
- Door-to-door verification of every voter
- Deletion of deceased or duplicate voters
- Cross-checking with Aadhaar, NRC, and other national databases
- Criminal proceedings against violators
Earlier on July 17, the Commission debunked fake claims by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera, Tejashwi Yadav, and others, who had alleged that the voter roll revision in Bihar was manipulated to benefit the BJP.
These claims stemmed from a video by journalist Ajit Anjum, which purportedly showed BLOs signing forms on behalf of voters in Patna. The video went viral, with Congress and RJD leaders alleging “electoral fraud by the BJP.” However, the ECI found these allegations baseless, stating that the clip was misrepresented and no evidence of wrongdoing by the Commission or bias toward any party was found.
“The Election Commission does not work for any political party. Misleading narratives are an assault on the credibility of the electoral process,” said an ECI official.
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