Bengal SIR: Poll officer standing in line for voter verification sparks row

A controversy has erupted in West Bengal’s Meteli under the Matiali block, as a Booth Development Officer (BDO) was spotted standing in line alongside other citizens for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls hearing, according to a report.

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This is an unusual sight, as BDOs across the state are designated to oversee the SIR process, but having a serving BDO summoned under the same due process has raised eyebrows and caused political and administrative hubbub in the area.

Whole family summoned

According to a report in NDTV, sources said, BDO Bharati Chik Baraik, in-charge of the Lava block in Kalimpong near Darjeeling, and her father Kapil Chik Baraik, brother Pranab Chik Baraik and sister Arati Chik Baraik, were issued notices because their names were reportedly not in the 2002 electoral roll.

Bharati has already met the SIR authority, and her father and siblings also attended the hearing on Monday (January 5), according to sources.

Allegations of foreign nationality

Opposition parties were quick to jump onto the issue and allege that Bharati and her family have foreign citizenship, with claims of them being from Bhutan as an explanation for why their names were missing from the 2002 electoral rolls.

Jalpaiguri district’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary, Chandan Dutta reacted to the issue, and claimed that without the SIR process, such matters would not have come to light.

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According to the report, he alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) allowed foreign nationals to enter West Bengal and enroll as voters, and that this issue extended to officials, including BDOs.

Reportedly, in Dutta’s view, Bharati was summoned as neither her father's nor her own name appeared in the 2002 voter list, which is why she was summoned for the hearing along with her family. He claimed this showed that the EC was conducting the SIR process without any bias.

Politically motivated

However, TMC district secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh argued that the BJP and the Election Commission (EC) were harassing citizens, and said the issuance of such a notice to a serving BDO showed “arbitrary functioning” by the EC.

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Singh further alleged that under BJP’s pressure, the EC was attempting to reduce the number of Indian voters, and that notices were being sent to TMC workers and police personnel, questioning how public trust could be maintained if senior officers were treated in such a manner.

According to him, the entire issue was politically motivated.

All accusations denied

In response to these allegations, the BDO's family has firmly denied all accusations of being foreign nationals.

The BDO’s brother Pranab Chik Baraik clarified that the entire family is of Indian origin. They had earlier lived in Juranti Tea Garden and shifted to Meteli after purchasing land in 1999.

He reiterated that before their names were included in the 2002 electoral roll, several attempts were made but ended up unsuccessful. But their names were subsequently included in the voter list in 2004, the report said.

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The BDO’s father was employed at the Pendant Cement Factory in Bhutan’s Gomtu, which may have been a contributing factor to complications in voter registration back then.

Pranab added that his sister Bharati used to serve in Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Nagrakata before her current posting in Lava, and that all of their siblings were educated in government and private schools in the region.

The family said they have all the documents and evidence to back up their claims.