“After ready exterior for 2 days, they first referred to as one consultant inside. Upon police request, they later referred to as two extra. Why is that this a present of conceitedness?” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Picture:
The Election Fee of India (ECI) on Wednesday (November 26, 2025) wrote to Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma over the protest by a bit of BLOs on the West Bengal CEO’s workplacecalling it a “critical safety breach”, and sought an motion taken report inside 48 hours.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, nonetheless, blamed the “conceitedness” of the ECI for the lengthy siege by protesters on the CEO’s workplace.
Within the letter, ECI secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra mentioned the present safety on the workplace of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal gave the impression to be insufficient to deal with the state of affairs.
Alleging “extreme work stress” and “unmanageable workload” as a result of particular intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a bit of booth-level officers (BLOs) held a 30-hour demonstration exterior the CEO’s workplace until Tuesday night (November 25).
“The present safety within the workplace of the CEO gave the impression to be insufficient to deal with the state of affairs, which might result in a risk to the security and safety of the Chief Electoral Officer, Joint Chief Electoral Officers, Deputy Chief Electoral Officers and different officers and employees working within the workplace of the Chief Electoral Officer,” the ECI mentioned within the letter, a duplicate of which was marked to the Chief Secretary, State Residence Secretary and the DGP.
Stating that it has taken a “critical view of the incident”, the ECI directed the police to take all doable measures to make sure the security and safety of officers and employees “posted within the workplace of the CEO, at their residences and whereas commuting back and forth”.
“The Fee additional directs that ample safety classification shall be finished on account of the sensitivity concerned because of SIR actions and upcoming elections within the State, and be certain that no untoward incident happens once more,” it mentioned.
Talking to reporters after garlanding the statue of BR Ambedkar on the Purple Highway on the event of Structure Day, CM Banerjee apparently referred to the CEO as ‘khudey kursibabu’ (junior chairholder), and questioned why the BLOs have been made to attend for hours exterior his workplace simply to place forth their considerations.
“BLOs are perishing below work stress not simply in Bengal but in addition in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I believe that the calls for of those officers are simply and legit. Why did they’ve to sit down for 48 hours to get an viewers with the CEO? Is there no worth of their time?” she requested.
Sustaining that BLOs are dealing with server points which can be stopping them from importing voters’ information in a well timed method, Ms. Banerjee reiterated the necessity to plan the SIR train for a interval of three years as a substitute of the present two-month deadline.
“After ready exterior for 2 days, they first referred to as one consultant inside. Upon police request, they later referred to as two extra. Why is that this a present of conceitedness? Do folks have the proper to register their complaints or not?” she requested.
Revealed – November 26, 2025 05:10 pm IST