By The Wire Staff
New Delhi: A controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia district after individuals allegedly connected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were named as assistants to booth-level officers (BLOs) during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The district administration later said the names were being removed from the list as they were “added by mistake”.
Accusing the BJP of using the SIR exercise as a toll to implement the party’s agenda, state Congress chief Jitu Patwari circulated the official list on social media, asserting that at least four of those appointed as assistants to BLOs in Datia were either members or office-bearers of the BJP.
“After the Election Commission, now the administration too is seen dancing like an open puppet of the government and the organisation. The official order issued by the Datia Collector, appointing several BJP office-bearers including the former Mandal President as BLO assistants in the name of SIR. It is the most absurd example of pressure from those in power,” Patwari wrote on X.
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. This attempt to colour SIR in the BJP’s hue is an insult to democracy. The Congress will not let this BJP tactic succeed. We are vigilant to protect the rights of every voter.”
During the SIR of electoral rolls exercise, the responsibility of verifying elector details has been placed squarely on BLOs. Each BLO has been assigned two-four assistants for carrying out the state-wide exercise, as per the list.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Datia collector Swapnil Wankhade said that three of the politically linked individuals had been “added by mistake” in the BLO assistants’ list by the sub-divisional magistrate. He said, “I did not issue the order. It was issued by the SDM [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. Different departments had sent names for assistants, and three were added by mistake. There was no mala fide intention. The official [SDM] had no such intention, but he made a mistake. We have asked him to explain how it happened.” Wankhade mentioned that he has issued a notice to the SDM who subsequently issued notices to the officials concerned, PTI reported.
The Election Commission has fixed December 4 as the deadline to complete the SIR of electoral rolls.
This story was originally published in thewire.in.
