Bengal officer's suspension vindicates BJP's stand on electoral fraud: Amit Malviya

Kolkata, May 17 (IANS) The suspension of an officer involved in the electoral process in West Bengal for his inappropriate behaviour vindicated the BJP’s allegations of electoral fraud in the state, the BJP’s Information Technology cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, said on Saturday.

Earlier, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) suspended Arun Gorain, assistant system manager, on charges of having inserted his own mobile number in the login credentials of a Block Development Officer (BDO) and Assistant Election Returning Officer (AERO) in the same division.

Referring to the suspension, Malviya claimed that a two-fold electoral fraud is going on in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

“On one hand, in places like Murshidabad and Beldanga, members of Islamist terrorist organisations are being issued multiple voter ID cards, enabling them to vote in different assembly constituencies. On the other hand, in several areas like Nadia, Kaliganj, and Howrah, the names of legitimate West Bengal voters—especially Hindu voters—are being removed from the electoral rolls,” Malviya wrote on X.

Referring to the suspension of the officer, Malviya said that the accused officer used the login credentials of the electoral registration officer to manipulate the voter list by adding and removing names.

“One example of this misconduct involves a voter named Payel Bhatia, whose father’s name is listed as Rahul Banik. However, the electoral roll also identifies Rahul Banik as a woman, raising serious questions about the legitimacy of the entries,” said Malviya.

He had also accused Trinamool Congress of having engaged a private organisation to place its loyalists in various administrative positions, which are then carried out illegal activities, including manipulating vote counts in favour of the ruling party in the state.

“During the 2021 Assembly elections, there were multiple incidents of arbitrary removal of names from voter lists and the declaration of false results by these operatives. Many of them were given government jobs illegally by the state administration. Ahead of the 2026 elections, the BJP vows to cleanse the system of such elements and establish a transparent government that will hold both the corrupt network and their enablers accountable under the law,” he said.

West Bengal Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Suvendu Adhikari, too, had welcomed the suspension of the officer and claimed that development reveals the “shocking connivance” between officers involved in the electoral process and the leader of Trinamool Congress.

--IANS

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