Govt slaps FIRs on poll officers, Bengal complies with EC directive Mamata backs her bureaucrats
Telegraph | 18 February 2026
The Bengal government has lodged FIRs against four officers — two former electoral registration officers (EROs) of Baruipur East and Moyna and two former assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) of these two Assembly segments — following an Election Commission directive.
"The Bengal chief secretary has sent a letter of compliance in response to EC's directions on Tuesday. The commission, which is on a visit to Assam, shall examine the same on its return from Assam," a poll panel communiqué said.
The EC asked chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty to lodge FIRs against the officers by 5pm on Tuesday after summoning her to Delhi on Friday.
With the state lodging FIRs against the officers, a seven-month-long tussle between the state government and the poll panel came to an end.
However, during a news meet on Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee did not give a clear reply to a question on whether the state lodged FIRs against the officers.
"There are so many FIRs against me. You know FIRs were lodged against me in Assam when I had launched an agitation against the CAA. Why are you serious about every issue?" Mamata asked during a news meet in Nabanna, adding that her government would always stand by its officers.
Even though Nabanna lodged FIRs against the four officers, the chief minister made it clear that her government would stand by the seven AEROs, who were suspended directly by the EC for approving the inclusion of ineligible voters into the final rolls.
"Were they showcaused? Were they given a chance to explain themselves? They will not be doing any election-related work, but they will continue to execute several other development projects in the districts," Mamata said.
Several sources believed that Mamata's stance could lead to another conflict between the EC and Nabanna.
The tussle between the Bengal and the EC began in August when the state government refused to initiate action against four officers charged with allowing the inclusion of fictitious voters in the electoral rolls of Baruipur East and Moyna.
"Then chief secretary, Manoj Pant, was summoned to Delhi, and the EC had asked him to comply with the orders of the EC in which it asked to suspend, initiate departmental proceedings and lodge FIRs against them. After the chief secretary was summoned to Delhi, the state government had suspended officers and started proceedings against them, but did not lodge FIRs against them," said a source.
The issue resurfaced in January this year when the EC asked the state to lodge FIRs. Initially, the state government refused, citing that departmental proceedings did not hold them responsible.
"But the EC did not buy it and summoned the current chief secretary to Delhi once again and gave a fresh deadline to lodge the FIRs. This time, the state followed the directive, which is a good sign," said an EC source.
Sources said that the state was forced to lodge the FIRs after it realised that it would not be good for the government if the EC lodged FIRs directly.
"The way seven AEROs were suspended directly by the EC recently, Nabanna realised that if it does not lodge FIRs, the poll panel could do it directly. In that case, the conflict would reach a point of no return, which is not desirable in a democratic set-up," said a bureaucrat.
State administration sources said that through her stance, Mamata had sent a message to all EROs and AEROs in Bengal who were disposing of cases after hearings, that the government was with them.
"The EROs and the AEROs are getting sandwiched between the state government and the EC. The EC wants to ensure that no ineligible voter gets into the rolls while the ruling dispensation is putting pressure on them to ensure no elector is omitted," said a source.
Micro-observers axed
Three micro-observers, who are central government employees, were suspended by the Bengal CEO after reports from district roll observers against them. Sources said that the micro-observers were supposed to report to the EC in case EROs or AEROs approved ineligible voters for inclusion, but these three reportedly did not do their job properly.