The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Samajwadi Party has demanded the Election Commission of India (ECI) to appoint all booth-level officers (BLOs) and other officials without any discrimination over caste and religion before conducting SIR of electoral rolls in the state.
The SP has alleged that BLOs ADM (Election) and ERO have been appointed on the basis of caste and religion and they should be removed.
“SIR should be conducted by appointing people of all castes and religions without any discrimination. It be done in an impartial and transparent manner, so that the credibility of the Election Commission of India is not questioned,” said SP UP President Shyam Lal Pal through a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh here on Tuesday.
Pal said that for conducting SIR in UP, BLOs should be appointed at 1,62,486 polling stations, EROs in 403 assembly constituencies and ADMs in all the districts.
“Presently the officers having the mentality of the BJP government have been appointed on the basis of caste and religion. There has been discrimination in the appointment of BLOs and other officers,” he alleged.
It has been said in the memorandum that in the by-elections of the Legislative Assembly in the state, a complaint was made on 23 August, 2024 vide letter no. 612/2024 in 213-Sisamau Legislative Assembly of Kanpur Nagar district and on 23.09.2024 vide letter no. 694/2024 in 277-Katehari Legislative Assembly by-election in Ambedkar Nagar district about the replacement of BLOs of the entire Legislative Assembly on the basis of caste and religion.
It was further mentioned that the complaint was ignored and no action was taken. According to the memorandum, in the 2024 Legislative Assembly by-elections in the state, the BLOs had been changed. Complaints were made about the appointment of polling personnel, presiding officers, counting personnel, among others, based on caste and religion by the state government, but no action was taken while the Election Commission of India remained a mute spectator.
Handing over this memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer, a delegation of the SP demanded immediate action by the ECI.