Suvendu Adhikari urges ECI to act 'more decisively' to shield BLOs from pressure in SIR exercise
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) must adopt a more proactive and assertive approach to protect booth-level officers (BLOs) in the state who are engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
IANS
Nov 28, 2025 10:49
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Kolkata, Nov 28 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) must adopt a more proactive and assertive approach to protect booth-level officers (BLOs) in the state who are engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
He alleged that BLOs are facing undue political pressure from the ruling Trinamool Congress and administrative pressure from state authorities to carry out the revision "according to their whims".
"I personally feel that the ECI is not doing what it should have done in protecting the BLOs from this undue political and administrative pressure. The manner in which the state administration is putting pressure on electoral officers to act according to its whims should be addressed more proactively by the ECI. It should send special and independent observers,” said Adhikari.
Incidentally, earlier on Friday, the ECI had issued letters to West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, directing them to ensure that BLOs are not pressurised or threatened by political party workers.
BJP legislator and fashion designer-turned-politician Agnimitra Paul also criticised the state administration and questioned the ability of the West Bengal Police to protect BLOs from coercion. She alleged that the police function like "Trinamool cadres" and cannot be expected to uphold neutrality in the ongoing revision exercise.
"Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have become desperate to resist SIR in the state, since illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators are their major vote banks. That is why they are spreading false rumours related to deaths and suicides of common people. In most cases, such deaths have been natural, which the ruling dispensation is trying to project as SIR-related deaths,” Paul told IANS.
--IANS
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