Kolkata, Feb 16 (IANS) Suspended Trinamool Congress leader and Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir on Monday supported the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it suspended seven Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

Speaking to IANS, Kabir, who last year launched a new political outfit, the Janata Unnayan Party, said such action should have been taken much earlier.

“I support the Election Commission for suspending the AEROs. They should have done this much earlier. Government officials engaged in SIR-related work have been indulging in malpractices for the last two months. Strong action should have been taken against such officials,” said Kabir.

Earlier in the day, the ECI suspended seven Assistant Electoral Registration Officers engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision in the state on charges of dereliction of duty.

To recall, in August last year, the ECI had directed the state government to suspend and register FIRs against two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two AEROs against whom charges of involvement in electoral roll preparation malpractices were proven beyond reasonable doubt.

The office of the West Bengal Chief Secretary had also attracted the ire of the ECI for partially implementing the order by suspending those two EROs and two AEROs, but not registering FIRs against them.

Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari also welcomed the ECI’s move while speaking to reporters earlier in the day.

“Despite the provisions of the election law, the Election Commission had been advising the Chief Secretary till now, but this is the first time the Election Commission has exercised its power in the SIR process. After that, the Election Commission can also file an FIR if it wants,” said Adhikari.

The BJP leader further said, “These seven people have been suspended for legitimate reasons. They have accepted fake school certificates, they have accepted PAN cards in the SIR hearing process. They have completely violated the 13 guidelines of the Election Commission.”

–IANS

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