MP: Persons linked to BJP, RSS appointed assistant BLOs in Datia, officials call it a ‘mistake’

A controversy erupted in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district after several persons allegedly linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, were appointed as assistants to booth-level officers during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, PTI reported.

The district administration described their inclusion as a mistake and said that steps had been taken to remove the names from the list of assistants, the news agency reported.

The revision exercise is underway in 12 states and Union Territories, including Madhya Pradesh. Booth-level officers began distributing enumeration forms on November 4.

The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 9. Voters can file claims and objections between December 9 and January 8, and hearings will be held until January 31. The final electoral rolls are to be published on February 7.

The task of preparing voter lists before elections is typically assigned to primary school teachers and anganwadi or health care workers, who are employed by state governments. They are required to go door-to-door and check the identities of new voters and verify the details of those who have died or permanently moved out of an area.

In the commission's parlance, they are called booth-level officers. Each officer is responsible for maintaining the voter list for one polling booth, which can sometimes have as many as 1,500 voters.

According to the Datia administration, each BLO has been assigned two to three assistants for carrying out the state-wide exercise.

The appointments drew criticism from the Opposition Congress, which alleged that the BJP was attempting to influence the process.

State Congress chief Jitu Patwari shared a copy of the district collector's order on social media, describing it as “the most absurd example of pressure from those in power”.

He added: “The BJP government calls SIR a ‘constitutional process', but the reality is that every constitutional system has been turned into a tool to implement the party's agenda!”

Datia Collector Swapnil Wankhade told PTI that three politically-affiliated persons had been “wrongly included” in the list of assistants.

“I did not issue the order,” PTI quoted him as saying. “It was issued by the sub-divisional magistrate of the Datia Assembly. He received the list from officials, and three names were included incorrectly. These persons are being removed from the list.”

He added: “There was no mala fide intention. The SDM had no such intention, but he made a mistake. We have asked him to explain how it happened.”

Source: Scroll
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