Asit Mazumdar, the Trinamool Congress MLA of the Chinsurah Vidhan Sabha constituency, stopped a hearing at the Chinsurah–Mogra block office around 11:30 am on Monday, leading to the suspension of proceedings for nearly an hour. During this period, a long queue of people waiting for the hearing formed outside the BDO office, causing inconvenience and growing unrest. The situation gradually became tense at the block office premises, prompting police personnel from the Mogra police station to arrive at the spot to maintain order.
According to commission sources, the hearing resumed only after the intervention of the district magistrate. However, when contacted over the phone, SDO Ayan Nath refused to comment on the incident.
Majumder told News Eisamay, “We demanded the presence of the BLA-2s for the hearing, and if they are not allowed at all, at least they should give their judgment in writing. We would be grateful to know according to which law the BLA-2 is not allowed. Neither the SDO, the BDO, nor the DM is giving this thing in writing, nor are they allowing any BLA-2 inside the hearing. The people who are having to go for a hearing today had their names listed in the lists of the 2002 SIR.”
“People who were enrolled in different government services, people who have even served in the army, and people who have served across different services for the country are being asked to come for the hearing. Elderly people who are in their 70s and 80s are no exception; they are also being called for a hearing. We are totally against this unhealthy scenario. We want to convey to the Election Commission that it kindly understands that a hearing can never be one-sided. A hearing can be two-sided or three-sided; a dispute between two people is never scientifically solved with a one-sided hearing. A one-sided hearing implies a monopoly in the choice of deleting a voter from that list, and if they want to exercise such power, we are ready to fight against this injustice,” he added
He said that he feels there is a lack of transparency in the SIR process and expressed serious concern over how it is being carried out. He stated, “There is definitely something grey in this process of SIR. We are not saying that the BLA-2 will be from our party, the Trinamool Congress; instead, we are asking to felicitate BLA-2 from all the recognised parties. Keeping the hearing one-sided raises a question about the transparency of the process. This question of transparency is the main reason behind the authorities' trying to delete legitimate voters and feudalism.”
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While asked about the efficiency of the SIR hearing, the Chinsurah TMC leader feels that the heart of democracy is being hurt with such a one-sided procedure. He says, “The framework of democracy is being destroyed with this process of hearing. The Election Commission is working on the advice of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP is not demanding to felicitate its BLA-2 during the hearing, exposing that the Election Commission is the agent of the BJP.”
Majumder claims BLA-2 access
The TMC MLA highlighted, “Every recognised political party has the right to provide BLA-2 during a hearing. The government has listed a few documents, like the passport, the result of the Matriculation Examination, any proper document regarding any possession, documents of a bank account, or any of the other eleven documents. In this process of hearing, such documents are also ignored or rather not taken into consideration. The people from the villages are not comfortable talking to the agents of the Election Commission. If BLA-2s were present during such a scenario, it would help the people from the rural areas debate against the agents of the Election Commission.”
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The ruling party MLA demands that BLA-2s must be given entry rights to bring transparency. He claims that if BLA-2s can be present for form distribution and other work, then why not during hearings? He also asks the Election Commission to uphold the basic principles of democracy and try to act according to the people of this country, and not just by any political party enjoying power at the centre.
