Even as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) debate intensified in West Bengal, with Booth Level Officers (BLO) holding a protest march on Monday to the Election Commission(EC) office in Kolkata, the poll body is still confident that the process is going on smoothly.
West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal said the SIR and the BLOs' pressure were two separate issues.
"If they (BLOs) are under pressure or if they are falling sick, we have told the district magistrate to help them. If there is a death, we have instructed the district administration to submit the police report and post-mortem report. The reports will come in a day or two, and we will forward them to the Election Commission," he said.
The protesters were still at the EC office premises when Agarwal was addressing the press. They insisted on meeting the CEO even though they were allowed to meet senior EC officials.
Agarwal claimed most of the protesters were not BLOs.
”BLO Adhikar Rakha Committee, I don’t know who they are. What is the registration? I did not meet them. My colleagues met them, and we found out only four of them are BLOs,” he said.
The CEO sought to allay fears that the BLOs would have to face severe punishment if they made any mistakes during the process. He said the show-cause notices issued to four BLOs earlier were due to grave misconduct.
“Action will be taken only if it is needed. We don’t want to take action unless someone is intentionally delaying public interest. We are not standing with sticks. We only have to take action when they are defiant, deviating from the original procedures and acting against the public interest," Agarwal said as he noted that BLOs are the face of the EC on the ground.
The CEO said there is no change in the December 4 deadline to complete the SIR process. Policy changes can be made only by the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in Delhi, he added.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress(TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee addressed a virtual meeting with around 2,500 party workers on the SIR exercise. The TMC had initiated the ‘vote suraksha’ camps to help citizens facing hurdles during the SIR process. Banerjee said the camps will be extended till January 31.
“Submission of enumeration forms should be our focus," the MP said.
“We must ensure 100% submission of enumeration forms. Our war rooms should remain on high alert. Our MLAs should take charge of this extremely important factor of the upcoming polls," he added.
“Did you see what happened in Bihar? Voters who had their names listed in the draft rolls found their names missing when they reached polling stations to vote," Banrejee said as he emphasised that any attempt at "vote theft" by opposition parties must be stopped.
CEO Agarwal declined to comment when he was asked about the allegations of voters' names missing at the polling station in Bihar during the recently held Assembly elections.
“I am not looking into the Bihar elections, and I cannot answer that question. I am the CEO of West Bengal. I can answer questions related to that," he said.
While the TMC is upping its ante over the SIR and the BLOs are protesting against the intense pressure they are allegedly facing, the EC is attempting to portray a calm demeanour and ensure the exercise meets the deadline.