BLOs clash with police outside Bengal ECI office over workload
What's the story
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in West Bengal clashed with police on Monday while protesting outside the state Election Commission office. The protest was against what the BLOs called "excessive workloads" during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. The protesters, who were part of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee, demanded a two-month extension for the SIR deadline and compensation for families of deceased BLOs.
Political response
BJP delegation visits CEO's office amid protests
The protest intensified when a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, reached the Chief Electoral Officer's office. Adhikari questioned why the Trinamool Congress government would pay honorarium to BLOs if they were against the SIR exercise. He said, "The TMC government that speaks against the SIR, why would they pay honorarium to the booth level officers (BLOs)? They will have to pay them... It is not right to speak against the SIR exercise."
Protest continuation
ECI's extension and ongoing protests
The Trinamool-backed BLOs, under the banner 'BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee,' said on Sunday that they will continue to protest, demanding a two-month extension of the deadline and a glitch-free BLO app. "We want the app to be glitch free and the total system should be error free. There must be at least an extension of two months," a BLO from the committee said. This is despite the Election Commission of India (ECI) extending the SIR timeline by seven days.
Voter surge
Deceased voters identified
Phase 2 of SIR is currently underway in Bengal. In the ongoing exercise, 15.53 lakh deceased voters have been identified. So far, 6.45 lakh enumeration forms have been digitized, with 7.65 lakh forms distributed across districts as the process continues. The SIR exercise is currently underway in the states and UTs of Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.