Gajendra Singh Negi/ Dehradun
The process of appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLA) currently underway in the State as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls could prove to be a blessing in disguise for the Uttarakhand Congress. The process can help the party to rebuild its organisation at the booth levels in all the 70 assembly constituencies of the State.
Interestingly, Congress party along with other opposition parties of the country is apprehensive of the SIR and has expressed its strong opposition to the process initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in different states of the country. Under the SIR, the ECI has asked the political parties of the State to complete the process of appointment of BLA -1 and BLA -2. Under the plan the BLA -1 will be appointed in every Vidhan Sabha while one BLA-2 will be appointed in every polling booth of the State. Both the major political parties, the BJP and the Congress have started the process to appoint BLA-1 (one in every assembly constituency) while the process of appointment of BLA-2 is underway, albeit at a slower pace. The registered political parties have so far appointed only 8,700 BLA-2 (BJP 5300, Congress 3200) while there are 11,700 polling booths in the State.
The BLAs will play a major role in the process of SIR. The BLA-2 will ensure the inclusion of voters of their polling booths in the SIR. The political observers are of the view that the SIR and appointment of BLAs could rejuvenate the Congress party which at present is suffering from organisational weakness. After appointment of BLA-2, the party could focus on training them on the process of SIR and the policies of the party. “Our party has lost the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024 and the Vidhan Sabha elections of 2017 and 2022. We have to strengthen our organisation by selecting and training grass root level workers in our endeavour to return to power in 2027 and the appointment of BLAs is a good opportunity for the party,’’ said one Congress leader.
Understanding the importance of the process, the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal has appointed former MLA of Kedarnath, Manoj Rawat as the convener of the committee for SIR. The general secretary of PCC Rajendra Bhandari and Amendra Bisht are the members of the committee.
Manoj Rawat told The Pioneer that the process of appointment of BLA-2 is underway at a fast pace. He claimed that in 35 assembly constituencies the work is more than 90 per cent complete. “We have also decided to prepare a team of 10-15 party workers under every BLA-2. We will also impart training to the BLAs and our booth level teams,’’ he said.
