Election Commission surprised over low BLO to BLA ratio in West Bengal

Kolkata, Oct 31 The Election Commission of India (ECI) has expressed surprise over the significantly low ratio of booth-level officers (BLOs) appointed by the commission to the booth-level agents (BLAs) nominated by political parties in West Bengal, amid the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state.

While the total number of BLOs appointed by the ECI in West Bengal stands at 80,681, a satisfactory figure considering the state's 7.66 crore voters, the current number of BLAs is only 18,114, indicating a notable reluctance among political parties to deploy agents for the exercise.

At an all-party meeting held on October 28, West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal reportedly expressed concern over the shortfall, urging party representatives to appoint BLAs in adequate numbers to ensure a transparent and efficient revision process. He also assured that BLOs would maintain regular interactions with the BLAs of all recognised parties during the SIR.

"Now, with the BLO-to-BLA ratio in West Bengal so low, the process of regular BLO–BLA interaction will be hampered to a great extent. Hence, the commission is insisting that political parties take proactive steps to appoint an adequate number of BLAs," an insider from the CEO's office said.

It is learnt that the CEO’s office has also directed district magistrates, who serve as district election officers, to impress upon political parties the need to nominate sufficient BLAs during upcoming district-level all-party meetings.

Earlier this week, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced the SIR for 12 Indian states, including West Bengal. The first stage of the three-phase SIR will begin on November 4.

In the first phase, BLOs will conduct door-to-door visits with enumeration forms to collect voter details, following which a draft voters’ list will be published.

During the second phase, political parties and individual voters will have the opportunity to file objections or suggestions on the draft rolls, which will be reviewed by the commission.

In the final stage, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will address these complaints and incorporate the necessary corrections before releasing the final electoral rolls.

The entire SIR process is expected to conclude by March 2026 at the latest. The last such revision in West Bengal was conducted in 2002.

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