So what if she’s his wife… A BLO husband woke his wife up from sleep after a discrepancy and handed her an Election Commission notice.

Burdwan: The Election Commission is carrying out a special intensive revision process across the country to ensure the accuracy of the voter list. BLOs have been appointed to various locations for this task. A unique incident that emerged during the SIR process in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district is currently in the news, where a BLO did not even allow his wife any exemption from following the rules.

Document Discrepancies During SIR
This incident occurred in Katwa city. Debashankar Chattopadhyay, a teacher and booth level officer at Bhomarkol Primary School in Ketugram, is posted for booth number 165 in Katwa. When the voter list was verified during SIR, some “logical discrepancies” were found in the documents of Debashankar and his wife, Anindita Choudhary. As soon as the notice was issued on the Election Commission’s app, Debashankar performed his duty without hesitation.

A notice was served after waking Anindita Choudhury from her sleep.
In the afternoon, while Anindita Choudhury was resting at home, her husband, Debashankar, approached her and handed her a notice for a SIR hearing. Surprisingly, he also made himself eligible for the same notice. Her wife was momentarily stunned, seeing that her husband hadn’t let the rules interfere with their relationship.

“All are equal before the law”
The Election Commission took cognizance of a spelling error in Debashankar’s father’s name and a discrepancy in his surname. Although the name was correctly spelled in the 2002 voter list, a notice was issued as per procedure. In Anindita Choudhury’s case, objections were raised about the nearly 50-year age difference between her and her father’s age. Anindita’s maternal home is in Nakashipara, Nadia district, and her father’s name is Anil Chatterjee.

Debashankar Chattopadhyay said, “I am a BLO, but not above the Election Commission’s rules.” Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, even if it’s my own family.’ Now, the couple will stand in line like other citizens to attend their hearings.

Anirban Bose, the sub-district governor of Katwa, also clarified that despite being a BLO, the commission’s rules apply equally to him and his family. Anindita, meanwhile, justified her husband’s strict discipline, saying he was merely performing his duty.