3 min readMumbaiMar 31, 2026 11:39 AM IST
First published on: Mar 29, 2026 at 02:31 PM IST
Taking a cue from the chaos that ensued in West Bengal during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the office of the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has decided to write to chiefs of all political parties in the state, urging them to prioritise the appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLAs).
Maharashtra has around 1,09,296 polling booths. However, sources in the CEO’s office said no political party has appointed even 50,000 BLAs so far. The BJP leads with about 44,000 BLAs, followed by the Congress at 29,000. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has appointed around 16,000, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has about 10,000. Both factions of the NCP lag behind, with the ruling NCP at around 5,500 and the opposition NCP-SP at about 3,800.
BLAs are appointed by recognised political parties for each booth and work alongside Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are government officials. BLAs, typically local party workers, help identify dead, shifted or duplicate voters to ensure a clean electoral roll.
“During our recent meeting with representatives of political parties, Rajasthan CEO was present. He stressed on the appointments of BLAs as it minimises the conflict during the SIR,” said a senior official from the state CEO’s office. Following the meeting, directions have been issued to step up efforts with political parties to appoint BLAs.
“We will be writing a letter to the chiefs of all political parties in the state to ensure maximum support in appointments of the BLAs. We want them to give us the list of appointees at the earliest, so it can be utilised during the SIR exercise, when it begins,” the official added.
Meanwhile, political parties have requested the CEO’s office to provide physical copies of electoral rolls from 2002 and 2026 for comparison. “The last SIR took place in Maharashtra in 2002, which will be the point of reference for the upcoming process. Therefore, we have received the request for physical copies from both years,” the official said.
The CEO’s office is consulting the Election Commission of India (ECI) on whether physical copies can be provided along with digital records. “We will have to check if any other states have done that. If not, we will need directions from the center. We can move ahead if any state has done that,” he said.
Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer has issued a directive to all political parties to appoint Booth Level Agents following the widespread administrative chaos and voter deletions reported during West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision . (File) 
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