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Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday alleged "illegal appointment of contractual staff" as sector officers and assistants in the 149-Kasba Assembly Constituency, claiming it was an attempt to influence the electoral process.
Citing an official order issued by the Returning Officer of Kasba Assembly Constituency, Adhikari said the deployment of contractual employees in sensitive election duties violated the Election Commission's guidelines. In his post on X, Adhikari said the move reflected a "calculated attempt" by the district administration of South 24 Parganas to compromise the fairness of elections. https://x.com/SuvenduWB/status/2042807730185081147 "Illegal appointment of Contractual Staff as Sector Officers/Assistants in 149-Kasba Assembly Constituency. It's nothing but a blatant and calculated attempt by the District Administration of South 24 Parganas to subvert the democratic process," he alleged. He further claimed that the order, issued under Memo No. 93/Elec./149-Kasba/AGE-26 dated April 10, 2026, showed that contractual employees under the ISGPP Cell of the Panchayat & Rural Development Department were assigned election duties traditionally handled by permanent government staff. According to Adhikari, "The individuals marked in the attached order are reportedly contractual employees... The Election Commission's own guidelines strictly prohibit the deployment of contractual staff for such sensitive polling duties." He also alleged that new designations such as "Sector Assistant" and "Assistant Sector Officer" were "fabricated" to bypass scrutiny. "Fabricated Designations: The Returning Officer has used the designation 'Sector Assistant' and 'Asst. Sector Officer', which do not exist in the standard ECI Election hierarchy," he said. Adhikari further claimed that the same individuals were earlier listed as "Sector Officers" and that the change was made after objections were raised. "It is evident that these titles have been manufactured to bypass scrutiny and deploy contractual workers," he alleged. Calling it a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the BJP leader said the arrangement could compromise the neutrality of the election machinery. "This is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct and a direct threat to the conduct of free and fair elections," he said, adding that contractual staff dependent on the state government could impact impartiality. He has urged the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal to intervene immediately and halt the implementation of the order, along with removing the Returning Officer (RO) of 149-Kasba for "professional misconduct and bias". His remark comes amid high political tension as West Bengal prepares for a two-phase assembly election on April 23 and 29, with counting of votes on May 4. Adhikari is contesting the assembly polls on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Bhabanipur and Nandigram constituencies. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost the Nandigram seat in the 2021 assembly elections against Adhikari, but later secured victory in the Bhabanipur by-election against Priyanka Tibrewal. This time, the West Bengal elections will see a face-off between Adhikari and Banerjee for the Bhabanipur seat, while Adhikari will also try to retain Nandigram. In the last assembly election in the state, held in eight phases in 2021, the Trinamool Congress recorded a landslide victory with 213 seats amid an intense contest with the BJP, which jumped to 77 seats. Congress and Left Front drew a blank in the last state polls. (ANI)
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