Kolkata, February 24 – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the District Magistrate (DM), also known as the District Electoral Officer (DEO), of the sensitive India-Bangladesh border district of Nadia in West Bengal, of instructing the district's electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) to engage in irregularities during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Amit Malviya, the chief of the BJP's Information Technology Cell and the party's central observer for West Bengal, posted an audio clip on his official X account, in which some electoral offices in the Nadia district were reportedly having suspicious conversations regarding the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
While sharing the audio clip on X, Malviya stated that, given that Nadia is a sensitive border district facing massive illegal infiltration and reported one of the highest incidences of human trafficking, the integrity of the electoral process in such a district was of utmost importance.
In his social media post, the BJP leader directly named Nadia DM-cum-DEO Anish Dasgupta and Additional Nadia DM (land revenue) Nripendra Singh as being involved in the matter.
"We have specific information that there has been a gross violation of the SIR proceedings in the Nadia district. District Electoral Officer Anish Dasgupta, along with Additional District Magistrate (land revenue) Nripendra Singh, were present in the Nakashipara block around 7 p.m. on February 20, 2026. They directed the EROs and AEROs to manipulate the SIR process by enlisting a large number of voters despite logical discrepancies and questionable documentation. During the meeting, it was instructed that the concerned officials switch off their mobile phones," Malviya said in his social media post.
According to the BJP leader, there were apprehensions that similar actions may have been carried out in other blocks under the same district administration, and therefore the matter required an immediate and impartial investigation by the Election Commission of India (ECI) with the necessary corrective action taken.
"The larger question is: why is the Mamata Banerjee administration allegedly interfering in the SIR process? Why is there an attempt to shield fake or illegal voters? This does not appear to be an isolated instance, as similar reports have surfaced from several districts. Most recently, there are concerns that District Magistrates may be attempting to mislead judicial officers appointed at the district level. Evidence in this regard is reportedly in the public domain," Malviya added.
There was no reaction from either of the two bureaucrats named by BJP leader Malviya in his social media post.