With July 25 deadline, many Patnaites wait eagerly for BLOs at their doorsteps
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Patna: Patel Nagar resident Raju Sinha has been eagerly waiting for the booth level officers (BLOs) to deliver enumeration forms (EF) at his residence in the city for the past 18 days.
A health worker posted in Bhojpur district, he leaves for office early in the morning every day and upon reaching there, he calls up his wife at repeated intervals to inquire about the the EF.
"There are 13 votes at my home, and if our names are not included in the electoral rolls, we would cease to be voters. Time is running fast, and we all are quite worried," Sinha shared his anguish while talking over phone on Sunday.
The last date for submitting the EF is July 25.
Left with no option, he finally called the office of the district election officer, which assured him that the BLO concerned would be sent to his him "very soon".
Munna Singh, a cloth trader, residing in Friends Colony, echoed Raju, "No BLO ever visited our area in the past 18 days."
The case of Umesh Singh, a social worker, is no different. "No BLO visited my home at Vijay Nagar locality in Patna. If this is the situation in Patna, you can understand the condition in villages," Singh rued.
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There are a total of four electors in his family, and they never missed the opportunity to cast their votes.
They are not alone. There are scores of people in Patna still waiting for the BLOs to visit their home. While many people themselves rushed to the nearest polling booths or the BLOs after arranging their mobile phone numbers, a good many of them are still to submit the EFs.
Election Commission (EC) claims more than 80% of the EFs have been collected, explaining that four out of every five electors have submitted the forms, even as the "missing" BLOs remain a matter of concern.
As per the directive of the EC, they must conduct door-to-door enumeration, and there are three steps — first to distribute the EFs to all existing electors, guide them to fill the document, and collect the EFs, along with the required documents.
Deputy election officer, Patna, Ashutosh Rai said the BLOs were actively involved in the work and would reach every home. "There is nothing to worry about. If they have not reached today, they will definitely come tomorrow," the deputy election officer told the TOI.
Leader of opposition in Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, however, rubbished the claims of 80% collection of EFs. "This claim is fake. What can we say about others, our EFs too haven't been collected," Tejashwi told reporters in Patna on Sunday, asking the poll body to explain the basis of its claim.
Tejashwi alleged they have reports of many BLOs submitting the EFs without the consent/signatures of the electors and attaching fake signatures/thumb impressions.
"The EC officials are only completing the formality. The whole exercise was being carried out at the instance of a political party," he said, also alleging that electors were not even being given receipts/acknowledgement receipts.
He also alleged many EFs were found scattered on the streets of Patna, and are being used for making paper bags.
However, the EC denied the report. "We had received an information through social media that EFs were scattered over a city flyover. During an inquiry by the deputy election officer, this was not confirmed," the chief electoral officer, Bihar, said in a social media post on Sunday.
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