'I came to do my job': BLA issue halts hearings, EC official’s car attacked in West Bengal

KOLKATA: SIR hearings had to be paused in Chinsurah and Midnapore after Election Commission said booth-level agents will not be allowed during the proceedings and special roll observer C Murugan’s vehicle came under attack in Mograhat, South 24-Parganas, as Trinamool-EC stand-off on the BLA issue reached a boiling point on Monday.


Murugan, tasked with supervising the SIR in South 24 Parganas and Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency, had gone to Mograhat I and II blocks for a field visit when he ran into protests. The protesters banged the car and the handle lock of a door was damaged.



EC asked Murugan to submit a detailed report. CEO Manoj Agarwal said DGP Rajeev Kumar and South 24 Parganas DM have also been asked to send reports on the incident. Subrata Gupta, special roll observer, said they had obtained footage of the incident and it would be sent to EC.


The flare-up followed EC’s decision to debar BLAs, who are nominated by political parties, from SIR hearings.


Despite the protests, Murugan remained firm and said, “I came to do my job and I will do it. What do I have to fear? I am an IAS officer. I have come here on EC’s instructions. It is the administration’s responsibility to pro-vide me with security.”


Around the same time, similar protests broke out in Hooghly and Midnapore. In Hooghly’s Chinsurah-Mogra block office, hearings were suspended after TMC MLA Asit Mazumdar objected to the exclusion of BLAs.


“Unless BLAs are allowed or officials give in writing that they will not be allowed, we will not allow the hearings,” Mazumdar told reporters, following which the gates of the block office were closed, preventing people from entering the premises. Later, following a prod from EC, the DM and other officials went to the spot and ensured that the hearings resume.


In Midnapore, the hearing had to be paused at the DM’s office after BLAs barged in and demanded they be allowed inside. Efforts were made to remove BLAs from the hearing venue. However, as they could not be removed, the hearing process was halted for more than 40 minutes.


But the EC remained stern. CEO Agarwal said, “We don’t allow BLAs inside the hearing room. It was not allowed in Bihar and not in other states where the SIR exercise is ongoing.”


Elaborating on the reasons, he said, “Tomorrow, if a student or anyone wants to be allowed in the hearing room, what can I do? EC’s instructions are clear and only ERO, AERO, BLO, BLO supervisor, micro-observer and voter can enter the hearing room.”


He also made it clear that EC has no provision to conduct a virtual hearing, one of the demands of Trinamool. On being asked whether central forces would be deployed at hearing venues, Agarwal replied, “If the central forces are required, the state government will seek (the forces).”


Trinamool spokesperson Partha Bhowmik, part of a five-member delegation that met the CEO, said, “We told the CEO that let EC issue a notice by the end of the day stating that BLAs aren’t allowed inside hearing centres. We will challenge that notice before a court of law. If they don’t, they must allow BLAs from all political parties to attend hearings. It is their democratic right,” Bhowmick said.


He said the BLAs have assisted EC in its enumeration phase and they cannot be arbitrarily stopped from being part of the verification phase.


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