Kolkata: The Election Commission of India on Monday directed district election officers (DEOs) to conduct hearings for 85-plus electors, sick and disabled voters at their residences during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while barring Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of political parties from entering hearing venues under any circumstances.
In a post on X, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the party had raised the issue before the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, and welcomed the steps taken subsequently. He requested the Election Commission to consider senior citizens above 60 years of age living with medical conditions or comorbidities on compassionate grounds so that they are not called for hearings. “HUMANITY must always remain our guiding principle,” he wrote.
A Trinamool Congress delegation met the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer earlier in the day and raised concerns over the difficulties faced by elderly, sick and disabled voters in physically attending hearing venues.
The state Chief Electoral Officer’s office has now instructed DEOs to arrange hearings for these categories of electors at their residences and not to call them to designated venues. Electors who have already been served notices are to be contacted over the phone and informed that they need not attend the hearings.
According to officials, hearing notices already generated for 85-plus electors, sick persons and persons with disabilities should not be served. It must be retained with the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO). The CEO office also stated that electors marked as “unmapped”, but having either self-linkage or progeny linkage with the hard copy of the 2002 electoral roll, may not be called for hearings. If notices have already been issued in such cases, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been instructed to call the electors and inform them that they need not appear for the hearing.
Officials clarified that if discrepancies are detected later in the hard copies of the 2002 electoral roll or if complaints are received, the concerned electors may be summoned for hearings after due service of notices. The Commission had followed a similar practice during the last Lok Sabha elections, when it reached out to voters in these categories at their residences and allowed them the discretion to cast their franchise from home.
Separately, the Election Commission reiterated its directive barring Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of political parties from entering hearing venues during the SIR process. The Commission instructed DEOs that BLAs should not be allowed inside hearing venues under any circumstances and warned that action would be taken against officials if BLAs are granted access.
The reiteration followed an incident at the Mogra block office in Hooghly district on Monday, where Trinamool Congress MLA Asit Mazumdar staged a protest and temporarily stalled the hearing process, demanding a written explanation from the Commission on the exclusion of BLAs. The hearing process was suspended for over an hour before being resumed.
Following the incident, the CEO’s office directed DEOs to remain present at hearing venues during similar situations to ensure that the process is not disrupted.