Kolkata, Nov 8 (IANS) Trinamool Congress has written to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, pointing out that the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) definition of the “relative” in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR), which has started in West Bengal from November 4, is inconsistent.

In the letter to the CEO of West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, a copy of which is available with IANS, Trinamool Congress has accused the ECI of speaking in two voices on this “relative” issue.

Trinamool Congress has claimed that although Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, on October 27, clearly said that a person might enter their uncle’s name or other relatives in the SIR enumeration form, in reality the statements contradicted the written instructions given by the Commission to the booth-level officers (BLOs) as well as the BLO software interface, which clearly says that only parents and grandparents can be counted under the “relative” category.

“The dropdown menu in the BLO app currently shows limited relation options —son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, and transgender— with no provision to select other relations such as brother, sister, uncle, or any other blood relation,” Trinamool Congress’s letter to the CEO, West Bengal, read.

On Saturday, Trinamool Congress also issued a statement questioning whether the Chief Election Commissioner’s statement or the ECI’s actions in the matter should be believed.

“This contradiction has thrown BLOs across Bengal into paralysis, created panic among voters, and exposed the dangerous gap between public statements and actual implementation. If Gyanesh Kumar’s statement is genuine, then why is the ECI refusing to act on it? And if it isn’t, then why mislead the entire country on national television?” the statement from Trinamool Congress read.

The party has demanded that ECI should immediately implement what the CEC himself said, or stop pretending to be neutral. “Bengal will not stay silent while the rules are twisted to suit one side,” the party statement read.

–IANS

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