Kolkata, March 31 West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Tuesday promised to review CCTV footage from his office following allegations by the Trinamool Congress that a BJP leader's representative brought a large number of Form 6s to the office to enroll residents from other states as voters in Kolkata.
Form 6 is used to register first-time voters or to transfer a voter from one constituency to another.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has alleged that the BJP submitted approximately 30,000 Form 6s to the state's chief electoral officer (CEO) office within a few hours, in clear violation of Supreme Court directives.
After meeting with the CEO on Monday, Banerjee said, "We have credible information that around 30,000 Form 6s were submitted to the CEO's office in six to seven hours today, in clear violation of Supreme Court directives."
He claimed that the CEO was unable to provide satisfactory answers and that the TMC would "not tolerate this".
Responding to the allegations, Agarwal said that the election authority was taking the complaints seriously and would investigate the matter.
"I will check where the CCTV cameras are installed... I will review the footage and then consider the matter further," he told a local TV channel.
The CEO clarified that individuals already on the voter list cannot apply using Form 6, which is intended solely for adding new names. He said that all requests and complaints have been forwarded to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for verification.
Agarwal also warned that those applying to be included in the voter list under false pretenses would face legal consequences.