August 30, 2025

Get ready, West Bengal voters! The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Agarwal, held a buzzing meeting on August 29, 2025, with leaders from all major political parties. The hot topic? A reshuffle of polling booths across the state! Now, each booth will serve only 1200 voters down from 1500. This means an extra 14,000 booths are coming — pushing the total to a whopping 94,497 booths! Why the big change? The goal is to make voting smoother and faster for everyone. Representing the ruling Trinamool Congress, State Minister Aroop Biswas joined the meeting. He said plainly, "We have no objection to the rearrangement of booths. We have said that the additional booths should be in the same polling station. Voters should not have to go two kilometers away to vote." His message was clear: convenience is key! Biswas also spoke about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a contentious topic these days. "There was no agenda on SIR in the meeting today. There will be no SIR in West Bengal," he declared. The Trinamool leaders, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, have threatened protests if SIR starts in the state. They want a fair and impartial Election Commission of India (ECI) that doesn't favor any party. Opposition voices were loud too. BJP leader Shishir Bajoria questioned claims by District Election Officers saying political parties didn’t object to the booth changes. He alleged, "the names of the BLO (Booth Level Officers) appointments were brought from the Trinamool Congress office," hinting at party influence. The Congress trio—Ashutosh Chatterjee, Khwaja Ahmed, and Mrinal Naskar—came prepared, joining the meeting with ‘No Political SIR’ posters. CPI(M)’s Samik Lahiri was also present, showing united concern across parties. CEO Manoj Agarwal told all parties they can submit any written objections or complaints about the booth changes till September 8. With the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections coming up, all eyes are on how these new booth arrangements will shake up the political game. But one thing is sure—parties will have to work harder now, placing booth agents everywhere in this mega state! So, next time you vote in West Bengal, expect a brand-new, more voter-friendly polling booth ready to welcome you.

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Tags: West bengal elections, Polling booths, Chief electoral officer, Trinamool congress, Special intensive revision, Election commission,