Kolkata, Sept. 27 -- Krishnanagar MP and Mamata faction leader Mahua Moitra, sharing a letter purportedly issued by the WBCS (Executive) Officers' Association, alleged that the association had on December 24, 2025, written to the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer flagging concerns over the alleged centralised, system-driven deletion of voters during the Special Intensive Revision process.
In its letter, the association said a considerable number of electors whose Enumeration Forms had not been returned on grounds such as death, migration, absence or duplication had been deleted from the draft electoral rolls.
Citing Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the association said an elector facing deletion must be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. It expressed apprehension that large-scale deletions could take place without EROs being able to exercise their statutory responsibilities through the required quasi-judicial process.
The association further said names could be deleted without the knowledge of the concerned ERO, despite the officer being the competent statutory authority. It apprehended that affected voters could hold EROs responsible for deletions in which they had allegedly not been involved.
It urged the Chief Electoral Officer to issue necessary instructions to ensure EROs could exercise authority commensurate with their statutory responsibilities, as the final electoral rolls would be published under their signature and seal.
Moitra has now linked the letter to her allegations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and then Director General (IT) Seema Khanna, claiming that centralised software was used to add, delete or alter voter data while keeping ground-level EROs and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) out of the process.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.