Overview
- Kerala service organisations staged statewide protests and a one-day work boycott after BLO Aneesh George’s death, urging the Election Commission to defer the Special Intensive Revision until local body polls conclude.
- IUML filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a halt to SIR in Kerala, arguing the exercise overlaps with December 9 and 11 local elections and risks wrongful deletions, including for overseas voters.
- The Election Commission ordered SIR in Assam from November 22 to December 20 using pre-filled BLO registers, with the draft roll due December 27 and the final roll on February 10, excluding D-Voter changes without tribunal orders.
- BLOs across states report heavy workloads, limited training and a slow mobile app that prolongs data entry, with Ernakulam data showing only 0.13% of electors submitted forms online despite the digital option.
- Officials defend the drive’s legitimacy, citing 48.67 crore forms delivered and large BLO/BLA deployment, as a high-level ECI team heads to Kolkata on November 18 to review progress.