EC Orders Action Against Two EROs After Probe Finds 10,470 Irregular Voter Entries in Pilibhit

The Election Commission (EC) has ordered the immediate suspension of two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit Assembly constituency over alleged irregularities in the electoral roll, directing that criminal proceedings against them be pursued rigorously.

In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Saturday, the Commission directed the suspension of Mayank Goswami and Hemant Chaudhary. Their chargesheets must be submitted to the EC for scrutiny, and they cannot be reinstated without its prior approval.

The poll body has also directed authorities to add Section 198 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, to the existing FIR against the two officers and Anil Kumar, a computer operator at a voter registration centre. The action follows an inquiry into alleged irregularities involving 10,470 voter entries in the 127-Pilibhit Assembly constituency.

The probe found that a computer assistant had allegedly misused login credentials on the ECINET portal to submit 13,779 Form-8 applications seeking changes in voter details between May 31 and August 29. Of these, 10,470 applications were approved, while 3,309 were rejected.

However, investigators reportedly found no application forms or supporting documents relating to these entries in the office. The controversy erupted after opposition parties, particularly the Congress and Samajwadi Party, alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in the constituency.

Following complaints of alleged misuse of login credentials, Uttar Pradesh CEO Navdeep Rinwa had directed district election officers to deactivate the ECINET portal IDs of computer assistants working at voter registration centres across the state.

The district election officers have also been asked to obtain confirmation from the respective EROs regarding the deactivation of these accounts. Further, the CEO directed the firm concerned to immediately terminate the services of the outsourced computer assistant allegedly involved in the case. District election officers have been instructed to personally verify the action taken in all Assembly constituencies and submit compliance reports to the CEO's office without delay, an official statement said.