The atmosphere suddenly became tense outside the main office of the Election Commission in Kolkata late on Monday night, when BJP and Trinamool Congress workers came face to face. According to available information, supporters of both the parties clashed over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, after which the police had to immediately control the situation by putting up barricades.
Let us tell you that the SIR process is currently going on in the entire West Bengal and regarding this, a large number of protesters gathered at the main gate of the election office on Monday night. BJP North Kolkata District President Tamoghan Ghosh, while talking to ANI, alleged that TMC people were trying to tamper with the amendment process by reaching the office at night. He said, “These people are not BLOs but goons and had come here at midnight to create disturbance, whom we have stopped.”
Meanwhile, a teacher from Murshidabad alleged that the entire process of SIR, which usually takes two years, is being tried to be completed in two months. He claimed that “Crores of voters in Bihar were removed from the list and there is a conspiracy to do something similar here.” He said that thousands of BLOs are ready to return if their views are not heard.
It is noteworthy that a protest was registered outside the Election Commission office on Monday also regarding the increasing workload on BLOs. According to media reports, several BLOs have fallen ill and at least three deaths have also occurred since the count began on November 4. Two deaths have been ruled suicides, while one case is a case of death under “suspicious circumstances”.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Election Commission of “hasty and unplanned implementation” over SIR. He says that it is not appropriate to run the amendment process at such a fast pace and thisBLOsThere is immense pressure building up.
Given the situation, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Aggarwal acknowledged the troubles of the BLOs, saying that they are “working in very difficult conditions” and their health is being affected. He said that district officials have been directed to assist BLOs and police and postmortem reports have been sought from the districts where deaths have occurred. He also said that the BLOs are “giving their best” and they are the “real heroes” of this entire process.