The Election Commission of India (ECI) has cracked the whip on the ‘recalcitrant’ Booth Level Officers and Booth Level Agents engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the electoral rolls in Bengal. While the Commission has directed lodging of FIRs against 8 BLAs, it has served show cause notices on a similar number of BLOs for alleged dereliction of duty.
The ECI action comes amid complaints from the opposition parties that the Trinamool Congress has hijacked the SIR process by taking the BLOs under its control and preventing the Opposition BLAs from accompanying them during house-to-house distribution of enumeration forms.
"Following receipt of a large number of complaints mainly from the BJP and the Left parties the Commission has (also) instructed the District Election Officers including the District Magistrates to ensure that the BLOs personally visited the voters’ residences to distribute and collect the enumeration forms these cannot be distributed from public places or any common camps," an ECI official said adding the election panel had issued show cause notices to eight erring BLOs and directed the State administration to register FIRs against the unruly BLAs.
Saying that a new set of guidelines has also been released for the BLOs on how to discharge their duties, the official said, "The Commission has instructed state authorities to follow the ‘Bihar Model’, under which BLOs are required to both distribute and collect forms directly from voters’ homes. Any officer found negligent in duty will face disciplinary action. So far, eight BLOs have been show-caused for allegedly violating these instructions."
According to sources, the ECI acted on a host of complaints alleging how the BLOs were being forced to distribute the forms from tea stalls, schools or even panchayat office buildings. In one such case, it was found that forms were been distributed even in the name of dead persons.
"In Booth number 258 at Katwa Block II there are 1125 voters out of whom 59 are dead and their names continue to appear in the 2025 electoral roll," said a school teacher referring to a respective BLO adding, "in many cases the BLOs are rendered helpless because they are being forced by the TMC workers to hand over the enumeration forms to them instead of visiting door to door."
Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Sunday demanded stricter action on the BLAs and a stricter vigil on the BLOs "if at all you want to have a genuine SIR done or else it will end in a farce because the BLOs have literally been held in captivity by the TMC workers whereas the BLAs of BJP and other parties are not being allowed to accompany them.”
Meanwhile, in yet another alleged SIR-related death a Namita Hansda, an on-duty BLO working at Memari block in Burdwan district, reportedly died of brain stroke as “she was under intense pressure both from the Commission and from the political parties,” her family members said. “An anganwadi worker she was unable to manage two duties at a time and also complained that she was being threatened by some party men,” her husband said.
Swapan Paul the general secretary of BLO Unity Manch, demanded a “compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the bereaved family,” holding the ECI responsible for the situation the common employees of the Government find themselves in.
“The ECI is taking no action against the politicians who are threatening the BLOs … while on one side Abhishek Banerjee is asking the TMC workers to tie down the BLOs to trees when they come the TMC has directed to man-mark the BLOs Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari is threatening of FIRs and arrests like Bihar. We are common people how can we perform our duties without being provided with adequate security why does not the ECI lodge FIRs against the politicians who are inciting people,” Paul asked.
