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The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday accused the Election Commission of "favouring" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by amending the rules for appointment of Booth-Level Agents (BLAs), amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal.
In a press conference, TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee flagged that ECI has issued the new circular to "accommodate" the BJP workers. "BJP does not have their BLAs, hardly 20 to 30 per cent are there. Now, to help the BJP, favour the BJP, the Election Commission has issued this new circular to accommodate BJP workers who have no authority at the booth and bring in individuals from other places," Kalyan Banerjee said. "The way the BJP does the election, they bring hooligans. This has been indulged by the Election Commission. EC is totally biased. What they are doing is in favour of the BJP," he added. The allegations came after ECI issued a circular modifying the appointment criteria of BLAs. Earlier, the BLA had to belong to the same part of the electoral roll. According to the circular released by EC, "In case of unavailability of Booth Level Agent (BLA) from the same Part of the electoral roll, Booth Level Agent may be appointed from any registered elector of the same Assembly Constituency." In a post on X, TMC has called the amended instruction a "serious concern", raising questions over relaxing the criteria for BLA appointments. "This raises serious questions. BLOs, as per existing norms, must belong to the same booth or, at the very least, the same polling station. Why then was an exception made only for BLAs? Because the BJP is failing to find agents from within local booths and wants to import outsiders to rig the process from within," TMC said. TMC alleged that the ECI has been "reduced to a servile extension of the ruling party. "This is yet another example of how the Election Commission, once an independent constitutional body, has been reduced to a servile extension of the ruling party. No wonder the Secretary of Amit Shah's Cooperation Ministry was rewarded with the post of Chief Election Commissioner. So that rules can be rewritten to serve the BJP's political convenience," TMC said "BJP has mastered the art of subversion: when you can't win the game, buy the umpire," they added. Currently, a nationwide SIR is being carried out in 12 states and union territories, with the final elector's list to be published on February 7, 2026. (ANI)
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