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All Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) appointed for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of West Bengal’s electoral roll joined work by Thursday noon (October 30, 2025) after the issuance of suspension warnings to absentee BLOs on the previous day, sources at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said. 

While the recruitment, appointment, and training of BLOs started earlier this year, 143 absentee BLOs were issued warnings of suspension by election officials on Wednesday afternoon. 

Earlier in the month, over 1,000 BLOs in West Bengal were issued showcause notices for failing to take charge. 

A section of BLOs had also written to the Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, expressing apprehension about participating in the SIR process, citing threats to their personal safety. The Chief Electoral Officer allayed their fears, and told the media that he was confident the SIR would be concluded smoothly and successfully. 

‘At least one per booth’

About 80,681 BLOs had been appointed to execute the SIR exercise, along with 8,000 BLO supervisors, over 3,000 assistant electoral registration officers, and 294 electoral registration officers, Mr. Agarwal said. 

With the joining of the entire BLO workforce as of Thursday (October 30, 2025) afternoon, election officials achieved their aim of appointing at least one BLO per polling booth, sources at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said. Each polling booth caters to roughly 950 to 1,000 electors, as of October 28. 

Special camps

Special camps were being held to assist electors in the districts hit by floods recently, namely, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar, sources at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said. The district administrations from these regions have so far reported no setbacks in the availability of documents among the people for the SIR process, they said.

Certain BLOs being appointed were directly or indirectly affiliated to West Bengal’s ruling dispensation, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari alleged on Wednesday. 

“We keep receiving complaints about the appointment of BLOs. Every complaint is being heard, verified, and acted upon, if it’s a case of proven political affiliation,” sources at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said. 

Published – October 30, 2025 09:13 pm IST