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Kolkata, Oct 26 (IANS) The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal has sought a report regarding the alleged inclusion of a Trinamool Congress functionary in the list of booth level officers (BLOs) under the Diamond Harbor assembly constituency in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.
Sources in the CEO office said a detailed report of the matter was sought after Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari drew the attention of the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the inclusion of ruling party officials in the BLO lists by highlighting the example in the case of Diamond Harbor assembly constituency.
According to the information given by the leader of the opposition, the concerned BLO is Mohammad Alauddin Mollah, and his name is in the list of BLOs for Diamond Harbor constituency in South 24 Parganas.
The official said that the same man is one of the regional presidents of the ruling party, and his wife Liala Bibi is an elected Trinamool Congress Panchayat member from Block No. 2 of Diamond Harbour.
After Suvendu Adhikari highlighted the matter on Saturday, West Bengal CEO Aggarwal sought a detailed report from the District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas, who is also the District Election Officer.
On Saturday, the official had also warned that if such politically connected persons continue to be in the BLO list, there is every possibility that they may “manipulate” the electoral process.
The selection of BLO in West Bengal has been in controversy since the beginning. Firstly, the allegation was that contractual state government employees and para-teachers were included as BLOs, bypassing the ECI order that permanent state government employees and permanent teachers attached to state-run schools should be considered for selection as BLOs.
There were also complaints of irregularities in the selection of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). While the Commission has ordered that only West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) cadre officers in the ranks of Sub-Divisional Officers or Sub-Divisional Magistrates or Rural Development Officers will be selected as EROs, there were allegations that officers below such ranks were included in the list of EROs.
–IANS
source/svn