BJP, RSS-linked persons appointed as SIR assistants in MP's Datia; collector calls it 'mistake'
Bhopal (PTI): Individuals linked to the BJP-RSS were appointed as assistants to Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls with the collector on Monday calling it a 'mistake' and seeking explanation from officials.
The Datia administration admitted that names of some politically-affiliated persons were 'mistakenly' added as BLO assistants, but said the lapse was not intended to be malicious and their names are being removed from the list.
As per the list, each BLO has been assigned two to three assistants for carrying out the state-wide exercise.
The door-to-door enumeration under the Election Commission-mandated SIR of electoral rolls began across Madhya Pradesh on November 4 and will continue till December 4. Draft rolls will be published on December 9.
The Opposition Congress alleged some BLA assistants were associated with the ruling BJP.
Datia collector Swapnil Wankhade told PTI that three names were wrongly included in the list of BLA assistants.
"I did not issue the order. It was issued by the SDM (sub-divisional magistrate) of the Datia assembly (constituency). He received the list from officials, and three names were included incorrectly," he maintained.
The collector informed he had issued a notice to the SDM, who subsequently issued notices to the officials concerned.
"These persons are being removed from the list. Different departments had sent names for assistants and three names were added by mistake. There was no mala fide intention. The official (SDM) had no such intention, but he made a mistake. We have asked him to explain how it happened," asserted Wankhade.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari shared on social media platform X a list issued by the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer (or SDM) and Electoral Registration Officer of Datia district, claiming four of the appointed assistants were linked to the BJP.
The former state minister marked the names of the four alleged BJP office-bearers in the list even as he slammed the Datia district administration and the saffron party.
Patwari alleged, "After the Election Commission, the administration, too, is now seen dancing like an open puppet of those in power and the ruling organisation! The official order issued by the Datia collector appointing several BJP office-bearers, including a former mandal president, as BLO assistants under the name of SIR is the most disgraceful example of pressure from those in power."
He said the BJP government called SIR a 'constitutional process', but every constitutional mechanism was being turned into a tool to implement the party's agenda.
"SIR being coloured in BJP's shade is an insult to democracy. The Congress will not allow this ploy to succeed. We are alert to protect the rights of every voter," Patwari insisted.
When PTI called on the mobile phone numbers of the marked assistants, one of them admitted association with the BJP, while another said he was linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
One of the BLO assistants, Bobby Raja Bundela, said he was associated with the RSS, while another, Manish Mishra, said he had been linked to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP's youth wing, in Bhandoni town.
It may be noted that BLO is a local government/semi-government official, familiar with the local electors and generally a voter in the same polling area who assists in updating the roll using his local knowledge.
In fact, BLO is a representative of EC at the grassroots level who plays a pivotal role in the process of roll revision and collecting actual field information with regard to the roll corresponding to the polling area assigned to him.
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Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
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