Kolkata, Jan 3 The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday directed the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, to ensure that there is no intervention by booth-level agents (BLAs) or representatives of any political party during the ongoing hearing sessions on the draft voters’ list in the state.
The hearings are part of the second stage of the three-stage Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal.
The ECI’s direction came in the wake of recent incidents in Hooghly and Cooch Behar districts, where hearing sessions were allegedly disrupted and forcefully shut down following interventions by three Trinamool Congress legislators, including a senior member of the state Cabinet.
According to sources, the legislators demanded the entry and presence of their party’s BLAs during the hearing sessions, leading to the disruption.
The Commission has also instructed the CEO’s office to direct district magistrates and district electoral officers to take necessary action in case of similar interventions or attempts to forcibly halt hearing sessions in any district.
“In its instruction to the CEO’s office, the Commission stated that eliminating BLA or political intervention from any party is essential to maintain fairness, neutrality and transparency in the hearing process,” a senior official from the CEO’s office said.
Earlier this week, the ECI had clarified why the Trinamool Congress’s demand to allow party BLAs at the ongoing hearing sessions on claims and objections related to the draft voters’ list was rejected.
The Commission maintained that accepting such a demand from the Trinamool Congress would compel it to allow similar participation by other political parties registered in the state, including six national parties and two state parties.
In such a scenario, each hearing table would have as many as 11 individuals — one Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), one Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), one micro-observer and eight BLAs representing different political parties.
“If such a large number of people are allowed at a single hearing table, it would become virtually impossible for electoral officers to conduct the hearing process effectively. For all practical purposes, allowing BLAs to be present at the hearing sessions is out of the question,” a CEO’s office insider said.
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