No Exceptions! Bengal BLO Serves Notice To Himself And Wife Asking To Appear For SIR Hearing | WATCH

An unusual situation unfolded in East Burdwan district during the ongoing SIR, when a Booth Level Officer (BLO) was required to serve hearing notices to his own family — including his wife and himself

— strictly following Election Commission rules.Debshankar Chatterjee, a teacher at Bhomorkol Primary School and the BLO for Booth No. 165 under the Ketugram assembly constituency, had just left home for school a few days back when he was compelled to return abruptly. On coming back, he handed his wife, Anindita Chatterjee, a notice for a hearing related to discrepancies in the electoral roll. To his surprise, he had also received a similar notice addressed to himself. The incident left both husband and wife momentarily stunned. As the notice instructed that all queries should be directed to the concerned BLO, Anindita Chatterjee turned to her husband for clarification. According to Election Commission procedures, the notices were generated and delivered through an official app, making attendance at the hearing mandatory. Like all other voters, the couple had to appear in person and stand in line for the hearing.

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'Rules apply equally to all'

Katwa Sub-Divisional Officer Anirban Bose stated that the BLO had acted strictly in accordance with Election Commission guidelines. “Even if he is a BLO, the rules apply equally. In this case, the officer followed procedure even for his own family,” he said.Debshankar Chatterjee resides with his wife and son in the Chowrangi area of Ward No. 10 in Katwa town, though his ancestral village is in Korola, within the same constituency. Since he is the BLO for his own polling booth, he was officially required to serve the notice himself. The notices were issued due to “logical discrepancies” detected during the revision process. In Debshankar Chatterjee’s case, his father’s name — Pulakendra Chatterjee — was found to have a spelling error in the discrepancy report, despite being correctly recorded in the 2002 voter list. Nevertheless, the system flagged the entry, prompting the hearing notice.Also Read: Bengal Groom Stands In Queue For SIR Hearing On Wedding Day, Bride Waits Outside Office | WATCH

His wife, Anindita Chatterjee, faced a separate issue. A resident of Majhergram under Nakashipara police station in Nadia district by ancestry, her electoral records reportedly showed an improbable age gap of 50 years between her and her father, Anil Chatterjee. This discrepancy led to her receiving a hearing notice — served, notably, by her own husband in his official capacity.The incident has drawn attention locally as an example of how strictly the Election Commission’s processes are being implemented, underscoring that no exemptions are made, even for officials tasked with carrying out the verification themselves.(With inputs from Bikash Sen from East Burdwan district.)