Chandigarh, July 15 (IANS) Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon has submitted a representation to the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer, expressing concern over the illegal activities being carried out by certain government officials and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The party has urged the Election Commission to intervene and issue necessary corrective directions.

In a missive, Dhillon said that in various parts of the state, some officials deployed for election-related duties are collecting data related to various state government welfare schemes under the guise of electoral roll revision and encouraging people to avail themselves of benefits under those schemes.

The BJP said such activities are completely contrary to the objectives of the Election Commission’s revision exercise and are illegal.

It further stated that at several places, the BLOs are demanding unauthorised documents from tenant voters, such as registered rent agreements or affidavits from landlords, even though no such requirement exists in the Election Commission’s prescribed guidelines. These unwarranted demands are causing unnecessary hardship to ordinary voters and making the electoral process unnecessarily cumbersome, it said.

The party has sought an immediate inquiry and strict disciplinary action against officials allegedly collecting data beyond the prescribed mandate and promoting government schemes during the SIR exercise. It has also sought action to curb the arbitrary practice of BLOs demanding unauthorised documents from tenant voters.

The BJP has also urged the Election Commission to issue strict instructions to all District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and BLOs to ensure that no documents other than those prescribed under the rules are demanded from voters.

Dhillon emphasised that the issue is directly related to public interest and the credibility of the electoral process. He urged the Election Commission to ensure that the electoral roll revision exercise is conducted in a completely fair, transparent, voter-friendly and time-bound manner.

–IANS

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