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Kolkata, Oct 8 (IANS) The Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) indication of special intensive review (SIR) to begin in West Bengal after October 15 became evident at an important meeting on SIR preparedness in the state organized by a central team of the Commission in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, here.
In the meeting chaired by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti and attended by other members of the central ECI team, CEO, West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal and other top officials of the CEO office and district-level election officers, the CEO office was directed to complete the ground work for the SIR between October 11 and October 15.
An insider in the CEO office aware of the proceedings of the meeting said, “Representatives of the central ECI team, especially the Deputy Election Commissioner, insisted on completing the ground work between October 11 and October 15, not just once but multiple times. This was taken as an indication that the Commission wants the SIR process in West Bengal to start soon after October 15.”
Insiders said the central ECI team placed special emphasis on completing the process of printing the calculation forms required for the SIR process before the notification was issued for review.
An insider in the CEO’s office said, “Even on this issue of printing of enumeration forms, the central ECI team insisted on a deadline between October 11 and 15. The CEO’s office was directed to complete the printing of 20 per cent of the total enumeration forms required within the next three days.”
It was pointed out that in the case of Bihar, where the SIR process was completed recently, the process of printing of count forms started after the issue of notification for SIR, creating difficulties for the returning officers in conducting the review process smoothly. Therefore, the insider said, in the case of West Bengal, the Commission wants the bulk of the calculation forms to be printed and ready before the notification is issued for review.
In the meeting, the Central ECI also reminded that in Bihar, disciplinary action had been taken against election officials at various levels for lapse in performing their functions diligently.
–IANS
Source/PGH