West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Friday urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to visit the state immediately, alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress is creating an “atmosphere of fear, coercion and intimidation” among Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Addressing media personnel at the BJP state office, Bhattacharya accused TMC of orchestrating a criminal “threat culture” to manipulate the revision process. Bhattacharya alleged that the BLOs were being “forced to ignore their duty and upload false data.”
Calling out the election commission for supporting this arrangement through their absence, Bhattacharya said that EC “cannot monitor West Bengal’s volatile ground reality from Delhi with a few routine statements and phone calls”. “The commission cannot discharge its constitutional duty from Delhi by issuing two or three statements while West Bengal burns,” he added.
BJB to approach CEC at the start of Winter Session of Parliament
Bhattacharya further informed reporters of BJP’s plan to formally approach the CEC after the Winter Session of Parliament begins on December 1, with detailed complaints on how BLOs are “being pressured, humiliated, threatened and made scapegoats” in the ongoing exercise.
The BJP MLA’s remarks follow the death of four BLOs in West Bengal, with two allegedly dying by suicide, due to SIR work pressure. The TMC in its letter to CEC earlier had held the SIR process responsible for the claimed death of 41 individuals including four BLOs.
BJP on West Bengal’s ‘ground reality’
Speaking at the party office, the BJP MLA further told reporters that across multiple districts “people from outside were being openly called in, and put in place of officially appointed BLOs to manipulate election documents while original BLOs were told to sit and watch the documents being altered”.
Bhattacharya further called out the election chief secretary for his role in shaping west bengal’s current predicament. “The chief secretary had assured safety and security for BLOs. But that has failed completely. FIRs, which should have been registered against certain individuals, have not been filed at all. A section of people now think they can do whatever they want,” he claimed.
The BJP leader reiterated that the Election Commission must take “full responsibility” for the security of government employees deployed in the SIR process. “We have not been able to come out of the cycle of violence. In 2021, 56 of our workers were killed, and even today our workers are being targeted,” he claimed.
“If the Chief Election Commissioner believes he can control the process through satellite images and a couple of reports from his officers, he is mistaken. Gyanesh Kumar must come here and visit South 24 Parganas and Diamond Harbour to understand how BLOs are working. Sending one or two representatives won’t do, The EC must ensure real safety of BLO workers” he concluded.
