Almost 24 hours after the members of BLO (Booth Level Officers) Adhikar Raksha Committee sat on a dharna outside the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office protesting over “excessive work pressure” under the SIR, the protesters on Tuesday insisted on a meeting with CEO Manoj Agarwal.
Meanwhile, inside the building, a 10-member delegation — four BLOs and six teachers or state government employees — which had been sitting outside the CEO’s office since Monday afternoon decided to withdraw their protest after they met CEO Agarwal and submitted a list of their demands.
The BLOs, however, decided to continue the protest outside the building.
On Monday night, they had gheraoed the CEO’s chamber and refused to move. The following morning, the standoff continued. Additional CEO Dibyendu Das spoke to the delegation and asked them to wait in his chamber, but they declined, saying they would remain outside the CEO’s office.
Moidol Islam, a member of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee, told The Indian Express, “We will wait outside the office until the CEO meets us. We came to express our grievances regarding the short span of time given to fill the enumeration forms and other issues, but instead of listening to us, BLOs sitting on dharna are being threatened”.
“We have been waiting for over 24 hours and the CEO does not have five minutes to meet us,” Islam added.
On Tuesday morning, police were deployed in large numbers to cordon off the area, stopping anyone other than staff from entering the building. Barricades were tied together with ropes, and officers checked IDs of every person entering. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division) Indira Mukherjee also visited the spot but declined to comment on the matter.Despite the sit-in, several BLOs continued uploading enumeration forms digitally from the dharna spot.
Tension had escalated on Monday when BLOs engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) allegedly clashed with police while trying to enter the CEO’s office during a demonstration against “excessive work pressure”. Several BLOs climbed the barricades in an attempt to enter.
Earlier on Monday, the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee had held a march from College Square to the building housing the CEO’s office.Later in the evening, the 10-member delegation entered the CEO’s office to submit their grievances but, upon exiting, alleged that one of the members had received a threat message for participating in the rally. They then began an impromptu sit-in inside the office.
Late on Monday night, BJP councillor Sajal Ghosh and his supporters reached the CEO’s office, claiming they had information that the delegation intended to tamper with documents. Slogans were raised by both BJP and TMC supporters, and a scuffle broke out, prompting additional police deployment outside the CEO’s office.