Mamata lays roadmap for party BLAs before SIR 2nd phase

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Monday laid out a detailed roadmap for her party’s Booth-Level Assistants (BLAs) ahead of the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, with the hearing process likely to begin from December 27.

Stressing vigilance, transparency and grassroots engagement, Banerjee said BLAs must ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the rolls.

“There should not be any picnic as of now. We will do that after winning the 2026 elections,” Banerjee said while addressing a conference of BLAs from Kolkata, Hooghly, South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas, covering around 40 Assembly constituencies.

She said lists of deceased, transferred and absent voters would be published on official websites and displayed at district, subdivision, block and municipal offices.

Calling the Election Commission’s voter mapping exercise “absolutely wrong” and “a blunder”, Banerjee instructed BLAs to conduct door-to-door verification using these lists to check whether voters shown as deleted or absent were actually residing at the given addresses. “If anyone’s name is wrongly excluded, Form 6 with Annexure IV must be filled up. Our BLOs have to help and submit the forms to the Electoral Registration Officer for re-enrolment,” she said.

On electors marked “unmapped” by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Banerjee asked BLAs to ensure that all such voters have received notices and are prepared for hearings with a copy of the 2002 electoral roll and any one of the 11 documents prescribed by the Election Commission. For those lacking documents, she said BLAs should assist them in applying for permanent residential or caste certificates, adding that “May I Help You” camps would be organised at Block Development Officer offices. Referring to the poll panel’s list of “logical discrepancies”, she directed BLAs to closely monitor such cases through the BLO app and ensure voters attend hearings with proper documents.

Banerjee reiterated that voters must not face harassment during hearings and pitched for booth-level assistance camps. She assigned responsibility to MLAs, block presidents and councillors, warning of strict action in case of lapses. “Many councillors do not work and only bring disrepute to the party. If needed, I will appoint new block presidents. Those who work well will be given responsibility,” she said.

She also asked BLAs to closely track Form 6 applications and Form 8 applications related to change of residence, correction of entries, replacement of EPIC and marking of PwD status. On Form 8 applications seeking deletion of names, she stressed the need for local verification. Migrant workers, she said, should appear at least once for hearings for their future interests, assuring them of support if employers deny leave. Alleging that names of outsiders were included

during earlier revisions, Banerjee urged BLAs to act responsibly to protect the voting rights of genuine residents and to file objections against attempts to enrol voters from outside the state.