‘Intentional’ BLO errors part of plot to defame SIR: BJP netas
Times of India | 26 January 2026
Kolkata: Bengal BJP on Sunday trained guns on "errant booth level officers" for allegedly compromising the SIR process deliberately. On Saturday, BJP netas had criticised EC for being "soft" in handling the situation in the state.
"People are being harassed due to Trinamool and its netas," said Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya, pointing at a "deliberate plot" to defame SIR. "BLOs are uploading errors intentionally, which is leading to more hearings. This is a well thought-out script that Trinamool wanted to play out," he said.
Earlier during the day, junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said "intentional clerical errors" by BLOs led to more hearings. "Whether it is an error in the spelling of names or other errors, much of this is being done by BLOs intentionally. It is to defame SIR process and project it as something harassing," Majumdar said.
"BLOs, AEROs and EROs are responsible for including names in the voters' list. All of them are employees of state govt. None of them are controlled by Centre. They follow orders from the CM," Majumdar said.
Claiming that BJP was ready for a "prolonged SIR", he added: "We have said this before... SIR can be prolonged if necessary. The final voter list should be absolutely error-free and agreed to by all."
Former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, however, said that EC was trying its best to come out with an error-free voters' list. "It has to ensure fake, dead and duplicate voters are deleted from the list. The process should continue till the entire electoral roll is cleansed," Ghosh said.