The Election Commission of India (ECI) is sending a three-member inspection team to West Bengal to review the ongoing voter list revision work under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive. The team, led by Commission Principal Secretary SB Joshi and Senior Deputy Election Commissioners Gyanesh Bharti and Abhinav Agarwal, will visit the state from November 5 to 8.
According to sources in the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office, the delegation will visit Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri districts to assess the progress of the door-to-door verification work being carried out by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). A technical team will also accompany the delegation to conduct field reviews and inspect the working methods of BLOs. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, will accompany the visiting team. The officials are expected to arrive at Bagdogra on Wednesday night.
The Election Commission has launched the SIR of the electoral roll in 12 states and Union Territories, including Bengal. As part of the process, BLOs will visit households across 294 assembly constituencies starting Tuesday to verify, update, or correct voter information.
Currently, forms are being distributed to 7.66 crore voters across 80,681 polling booths in the state.
Political parties have submitted names of 41,800 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to the Election Commission to assist in the process. District administrations have been instructed to stay on alert, and police authorities have been directed to tighten security to ensure smooth operations.
The Chief Electoral Officer held a virtual meeting with all District Election Officers (DEOs) on Tuesday, emphasising coordination with local police to safeguard BLOs during fieldwork. Additionally, the “Book a Call with BLO” service has been launched to help voters directly connect with their respective BLOs for any assistance. The CEO’s office in Kolkata will monitor this service to ensure quick redressal of voter queries.
Officials said the Election Commission representatives may provide special recommendations based on their on-ground review to further streamline the voter list revision process.
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