EC to Bengal officials: Don’t share poll portal’s log-in details
Times of India | 28 August 2025
Kolkata: The EC has warned Bengal officials on election duty against sharing log-in IDs and OTPs to access the poll panel's portal "under any circumstances whatsoever".
State chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal on Wednesday wrote to the district election officers, election returning officers (EROs) and assistant EROs, "It is hereby directed that, AEROs/EROs shall not delegate the discharge of any of their statutory duties and functions to any other official or person and will not share their ERONet login ID and OTP with any data entry operator or anyone else under any circumstances whatsoever.
"The letter also says the electoral registration officers (EROs) and AEROs cannot under any circumstances exempt block level officers (BLOs) from ground-level verifications. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataAgarwal in his letter said violation of rules would be viewed "very seriously" and appropriate action will be taken against errant officials.
The CEO's letter follows the suspension of four officials and a data entry operator involved in election-related work by the Bengal govt. The EC had on Aug 5 demanded action against the five for dereliction of duty, which the poll panel said had led to the entry of bogus voters in the electoral rolls of Moyna and Baruipur (East) Assembly constituencies.
One of the allegations is that the officers had shared their log-in credentials for the EC portal with their subordinates, leading to the inclusion of 108 bogus names in the rolls. The officials had reportedly said during an investigation that they had delegated work in "good faith".
Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant, too, had told the EC that in addition to election work, the officers had "wide ranging functions and responsibilities" assigned by the state government, which might have prompted them to delegate certain duties to their subordinates in "good faith".