Anger over alleged harassment of voters because of the contentious special intensive revision (SIR) and the "bias" in the process itself erupted at the block development office in Murshidabad’s Farakka on Wednesday.
The BDO office saw protests by at least 100 booth-level officers who had submitted resignations earlier in the day. Amid the protests by these BLOs and some aggrieved residents in front of the BDO office, a group of Trinamool Congress supporters led by MLA Manirul Islam stormed inside the building which also houses a designated SIR hearing centre. This group damaged furniture and scattered files.
Of the 200-odd BLOs in Farakka, around 100 who submitted their resignations to electoral registration officer Sanjit Mandal did so because they said that the "arbitrary, frequently changing instructions" of the Election Commission had made their work "unmanageable".
The unrest unfolded even as hearings to address logical discrepancies in voter data flagged by the EC continued, turning the electoral roll revision exercise into a growing test of public patience.
Minority 'target'
Farakka BLOs alleged that voters from minority communities were being selectively harassed in the name of SIR hearings and demanded that this be stopped. They insisted that if hearings were really necessary, they should be conducted within the villages of voters rather than at block development offices.
Protesting BLOs claimed voters from minority-dominated pockets were being summoned in disproportionately large numbers, particularly those with more than three children. "People are being asked to prove their parentage without any specific government order. The EC is changing instructions overnight, making our duties impossible," a BLO alleged.
MLA Islam termed the process discriminatory. "Objections are being raised for Rahim but not for Ram. The EC cannot divide voters by religion," he said.
Syed Taj Islam, a protesting BLO, flagged the disparity: "In my Muslim-dominated booth, 300 notices were issued. In my colleague's Hindu-dominated booth, there were none. Voters who corrected names in 2002 according to EC rules are now being asked for impossible-to-find old documents."
District officials claimed that notices were issued directly by the EC, leaving BDOs unaware of the specifics.
Farakka BDO Junaid Ahmed has filed a complaint for obstruction of work and damage to property. Murshidabad DM Nitin Singhania has ordered a departmental inquiry.
Opposition's take
Opposition parties BJP and CPM were united in slamming Trinamool MLA Manirul Islam, but the CPM again criticised the EC.
BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar slammed Trinamool for ransacking a government office, while CPM state secretary Md Salim blamed the EC’s "harassment" for providing Trinamool the pretext for violence.
Sarkar said: “This is the true colour of Trinamool. What can be more shameful than a ruling party MLA ransacking a BDO office?”
Over two consecutive days, Salim has been reeling out statistics of people called for hearings to show how a "section of the vulnerable populace is being targeted by the EC in accordance with the divisive agenda of the RSS-BJP".
On Wednesday, Salim said: "Trinamool did what it does best — vandalism. But who prepared the ground for what happened today? If so many people had not been harassed by the EC, there would not been such a big gathering of voters and no opportunity for the Trinamool to play vandals."
Incidents elsewhere
In East Burdwan's Ketugram, villagers blocked the Haldia–Farakka road at the Futisako intersection, protesting the alleged harassment in the form of SIR hearings. The blockade, which disrupted traffic for about four hours on the arterial road connecting East Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts, was lifted only after senior police officers assured the protesters that their grievances would be taken up with the district administration.
In Bongaon of North 24-Parganas, BJP MLAs Ashok Kirtaniya, Swapan Majumdar, and Subrata Thakur staged a sit-in at the SDO’s residence, alleging the BDO's sudden refusal to accept Form 7 applications.
Suicide
In North 24-Parganas, Nikhil Das, 79, allegedly committed suicide. Family members claimed he jumped before a train at Guma station on Tuesday night, fearing deportation to Bangladesh after receiving an SIR notice.