Complaints on electoral rolls: in a first, EC trains booth-level agents of political parties ahead of Bihar polls
After several complaints from political parties on electoral rolls over the past few months, the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday kicked off a two-day training session in a first-of-its-kind programme for booth-level agents appointed by political parties for the Bihar Assembly elections.
Around 280 booth-level agents (BLA) of 10 major parties attended day one of the session at the EC’s India International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), a statement from the poll panel said. The Bihar Assembly elections are expected to be held later this year.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi addressed the training session. “The BLAs were given an overview of their appointment, roles, and responsibilities as per the legal framework. The training programme familiarised them with various aspects of the election processes, including the preparation, updation and revision of electoral rolls and the associated forms and formats associated,” the EC said.
The BLAs were trained on how to use the options of the first and second appeals under the Representation of the People Act in case they want to challenge any deletion or addition to the electoral roll.
According to EC sources, the booth-level agents were from major national and state parties in Bihar including the BJP, Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), Janata Dal (United), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI (Marxist-Leninist), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Over the past few months, the Congress has raised concerns regarding the updation of election rolls in Maharashtra, while the AAP has flagged similar concerns in Delhi and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal. Following the complaints, last month the EC proposed meeting national and state party presidents to discuss efforts to clarify electoral processes.
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