With the Election Commission of India preparing to initiate the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Meghalaya, Chief Electoral Officer BDR Tiwari on Tuesday voiced concern over the lack of proactive participation by political parties in appointing Booth Level Agents (BLAs), even as the State election machinery asserted its readiness to undertake the electoral verification exercise whenever directed by the Commission.
The remarks come at a time when several States undertaking SIR exercises have witnessed active grassroots participation by political parties through the deployment of BLAs to coordinate with election authorities during voter verification and roll revision processes. Meghalaya, however, continues to witness a comparatively lukewarm response from political parties in appointing booth-level representatives despite repeated requests from the Election Department.
Addressing media persons, Dr. Tiwari said the State’s electoral machinery was fully prepared in terms of manpower and administrative infrastructure to conduct the exercise smoothly and efficiently. “Whatever manpower the elections functionaries, the machinaries are already there, the BLOs, supervisors, etc and the manpower whatever will be required from the election side we are ready,” he said.
Drawing a comparison with developments in other States, the Chief Electoral Officer observed that political parties elsewhere had taken a more active role in appointing BLAs to assist in booth-level electoral processes. “In other states it has been seen that booth level agents have been appointed by the political parties in other states, in that front atleast in Meghalaya we keep on requesting the political parties to appoint Booth Level Agents, but somehow that progress is at least not very proactive,” he said.
Stating that the decision ultimately rests with the political parties themselves, Tiwari added, “So it is up to the political parties regarding the appointment of the BLAs.”
On whether the Election Department would once again convene meetings with political parties to impress upon them the importance of appointing BLAs ahead of the proposed SIR exercise, Tiwari said the department had repeatedly engaged with political parties in the past and would continue to do so at regular intervals.
“Earlier also, we did several time (meeting with political parties),” he said, adding, “And once again, when the schedule for SIR will be there and the routine course also regular interval, we also keep on having the meeting with the political parties, and we keep on, requesting them,” The Chief Electoral Officer added.
