Mamata Banerjee opposes private booth idea, pens to Election Commissioner urging “immediate intervention

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written a sharp, two-page letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging his “immediate intervention” on what she described as two “disturbing yet urgent” developments within the Election Commission’s functioning in the state.

In the letter dated November 24, Banerjee flagged concerns over a recent directive issued by the state Chief Electoral Officer for hiring data entry operators for a period of one year and a proposal reportedly under consideration to set up polling stations inside private housing complexes. She questioned whether these moves were being carried out “at the behest of a political party to serve vested interests.”

Mamata Banerjee said it had “recently come to light that the CEO, West Bengal, has directed District Election Officers (DEOs) not to engage contractual data entry operators and Bangla Sahayata Kendra (BSK) staff for SIR-related or other



election-related data work.”

“Simultaneously, the CEO’s office has floated a Request for Proposal (RfP) for hiring 1,000 Data Entry Operators and 50 Software Developers for a period of one year,” she wrote.

The chief minister questioned the need for outsourcing this work to an external agency when district offices “already have a substantial number of competent professionals performing such functions.”

“Traditionally, field offices have always hired their own contractual data entry personnel as per requirement. If there is an urgent need, DEOs are fully empowered to undertake such hiring themselves,” she wrote, adding that the “timing and manner of this RfP certainly raise legitimate doubts.”

Banerjee asked why the CEO’s office was “assuming this role on behalf of field offices,” and whether this initiative was being driven by “pressure from a political party.”