Kolkata: Assembly elections are to be held in West Bengal in 2026. Before this, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is also to be conducted. The Election Commission is going to add about 14 thousand new polling stations. Under the SIR process, the number of polling stations in the state is going to increase from the current 80,000 to 94,000. This increase in booths has exposed the organizational weakness of the BJP. On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress is full of confidence.
BJP officials believe that they will be able to ensure their presence in only 70 percent of the booths due to the lack of booth level agents (BLAs). This situation can become a big challenge for the party before the 2026 assembly elections. On the contrary, the Trinamool Congress is considering the increase in booths as an opportunity to further strengthen the ground organization rather than a burden. TMC has no problem in booth management as it has a sufficient number of BLAs. This is the reason why BJP seems worried about the increasing booths.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP may deploy polling agents in around 50,000-55,000 of the current 80,681 booths in West Bengal. The target right now is 65,000-70,000, but insiders believe the party may find it difficult to reach even close to it.
According to news agency PTI, a senior state BJP leader said on condition of anonymity, “This time the number of BLAs during the SIR process will be higher. No political party can achieve 100 per cent target in terms of booth agents. But at the same time, it is a challenge for us where we are not able to appoint BLAs.”
West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya expressed confidence and stressed that the party will reach maximum booths. He told news agency PTI, “We will prepare a strategy to deal with the challenges at the booths where there are challenges. Right now I will not disclose how many BLAs we have, as it is an organisational matter.”
TMC vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “No party other than TMC has the capacity to be deployed at all the booths. On paper, others may claim a lot, but the reality is clear.”
Political analysts say that without a strong BLA network, converting people’s sentiments into votes becomes uncertain. Political analyst Vishwanath Chakraborty says, “Booth politics is based on patience, local connect and neighbourhood credibility. TMC is adept at this; BJP is not.”
What is the role of BLA in elections:
In the SIR process, BLAs work closely with booth level officers (BLOs), who are government employees. They work to prepare accurate voter lists. These agents collect and submit counting forms, mark the names of dead or shifted voters, and motivate citizens to check the draft voter list. In effect, they act as the eyes and ears of the party at the booth level.
