ECI to begin training of booth level agents soon
BLAs are the authorised representatives of political parties who work with the Booth Level Officers during the special summary revision of the electoral roll
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that it will soon begin the process to train political party representatives and their appointed Booth Level Agents (BLAs) on the processes involved in the electoral roll preparation, and the subsequent filing of claims and objections.
According to the ECI, there are over one million booths across the country.
BLAs are the authorised representatives of political parties who work with the Booth Level Officers during the special summary revision of the electoral roll, assisting in identification of shifted or dead electors.
“The offer of the Commission to train political party representatives and their appointed BLAs on the due processes as per electoral laws including claims and objections to the voter list has been welcomed by political parties. The ECI has also invited suggestions from all political parties on all matters concerning the conduct of elections by April 30,” the ECI said in its release.
To be sure, only 89 first appeals were filed across 36 states and UTs in the last special summary revision of the electoral roll.
An official in the EC, on the condition of anonymity, said, “There is a broad spectrum of the BLAs, from being completely ignorant of the processes to lacking in depth knowledge, and the ECI wants to involve all of them to avoid any accusations against ECI at a later stage.”
On March 4, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar had directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to “hold all party meetings” and “resolve” any kind of issue within the statutory framework at three levels: Electoral Registration Officer (EROs), District Election Officer (DEO), and CEO.
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It means meetings are currently under process with 4123 EROs, 788 DEOs, and 36 CEOs.
“Such meetings across the country will help resolve any outstanding and emergent issues raised by the political parties at the grassroot level itself,” the Commission noted in its release.