Another Trinamool office-bearer appointed BLO; Bengal CEO to seek report

Kolkata, Oct 27 (IANS) An instance of appointing a Trinamool Congress office-bearer as a booth-level officer (BLO) has now surfaced in the Narayangarh Assembly Constituency in West Midnapore district of West Bengal, the second such instance within the last seven days.

Last week, the attention of the Election Commission of India (ECI) was drawn to the selection of an area president of Trinamool Congress as the BLO for a particular booth under Diamond Harbour constituency in South 24 Parganas district.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, has already asked the South 24 Parganas District Magistrate, who is also the District Election Officer, to investigate the matter in the case of Diamond Harbour Assembly constituency and send a report on this count to the CEO’s office in Kolkata at the earliest.

Now, with a similar instance in the case of Narayangarh Assembly Constituency in West Midnapore district having been highlighted, the CEO’s office, in all probability, will seek a similar report from the District Magistrate and District Electoral Officer of West Midnapore, an insider from the CEO’s office said.

The whistleblower in both these cases is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. On Monday morning, he drew the attention of ECI regarding the selection of a para-teacher, Suddhadeb Mahapatra, known to be closely associated with Trinamool Congress, as BLO for booth number 24, Sandeuli, under Narayangarh Assembly Constituency.

Since Mahapatra is a para-teacher, his appointment in itself violates ECI-mandated criteria for BLO selection, which bars para-teachers from being appointed as BLOs. Para-teachers are contractual teachers hired in states to fill gaps in the education system, especially in schools with teacher shortages or in remote areas.

As per commission-mandated criteria, permanent state government employees and permanent teachers in state-run schools covered under retirement benefits like provident fund, pension, and gratuity should be the first priority for selection as BLOs.

The LoP had also pointed out that the selection of Mahapatra as the BLO was made while ignoring the claims of two permanent primary teachers in state-run schools and two ICDS workers, all four being eligible for BLO selection under ECI-mandated criteria.

“I request the CEO, West Bengal, to take immediate cognisance of this matter and replace the BLO with an eligible state government official to uphold the sanctity of the electoral process,” Adhikari said on Monday.

--IANS

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