BJP Delegation Meets Top Poll Officials, Flags Bengal SIR Irregularities

A BJP delegation met officials of the Election Commission today and alleged serious irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The delegation included state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, the party's IT department head Amit Malviya, MPs Khagen Murmu and Jagannath Sarkar, and its national coordinator for election matters Om Pathak.

The BJP alleged that large-scale manipulation of voter rolls was taking place in the state and urged the Election Commission to intervene urgently.

Amit Malviya alleged that the state administration and workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress were pressuring Booth Level Officers (BLOs). He said the mandatory honorarium of Rs 18,000 due to BLOs had not been released and that the state had not appointed Data Entry Operators, increasing BLOs' workload and paralysing the review process. He also alleged that Trinamool workers were pressuring BLOs and trying to take the enumeration forms so that they could fill them themselves.

The BJP also raised concerns about irregularities in the first phase of the SIR. The delegation told the Commission that statistical projections suggest that nearly 88 lakh voters died since 2002, but a large number of these names are still on the rolls. The party claimed that over 22 lakh residents who have migrated out continue to be listed as ordinary residents in West Bengal and alleged the presence of duplicate entries.

The delegation further alleged infiltration from Bangladesh and the presence of non-citizens on the voter list. Amit Malviya said the party did not want Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators to influence the choice of Chief Minister. The BJP presented examples of fraudulent linkages, including cases where dead or shifted voters were shown as parents of new applicants or instances where a woman listed as someone's mother was younger than him/her.

The party also submitted a set of recommendations to the commission. These included strengthening the independence of the CEO's office from the state home department, deploying AI-based tools for verification of deceased or duplicate voters, granting access to the Janma Mrityu Tathya portal for matching death records, allowing use of Aadhaar-linked data to detect multiple registrations, appointing Data Entry Operators without delay and deploying independent observers to monitor the revision process. The BJP also urged the Commission to issue a clear and uniform definition of an ordinary resident and to appoint senior officials of SDO rank or equivalent as Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers.

In a parallel development, the Election Commission wrote to the Kolkata Police Commissioner regarding the security breach at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Kolkata during a protest by BLOs on Monday. In its letter dated November 26, the commission said the security arrangements at the CEO's office appeared inadequate and posed a risk to the safety of the CEO and other senior officials. The poll body directed the police to ensure the safety of officers and staff at the CEO's office, their residences and during transit. It also instructed that security classification be upgraded in view of the sensitivity of the SIR process and the forthcoming elections. The Commission has sought an action taken report within 48 hours.