Appoint BLAs to assist electoral machinery: CEO Ladakh urges political parties

Leh, Dec 21: The Chief Electoral Officer, Ladakh, Yetindra Maralkar held a UT-level meeting today with the representatives of political parties at the Conference Hall of the Deputy Commissioner, Leh, in connection with the ongoing Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in UT Ladakh.
During the meeting, the CEO requested the political parties to appoint their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to assist the electoral machinery in creating a comprehensive and healthy electoral roll for the smooth conduct of elections.
The CEO Ladakh informed the political party representatives that there would now be four qualifying dates—1st January, 1st April, 1st July, and 1st October—as eligibility criteria for youngsters to register in the electoral rolls. This is in contrast to the earlier single qualifying date of 1st January. Consequently, youngsters aged 17 and above can apply in advance to have their names enrolled in the voter’s list, no longer having to wait to attain the age of 18 years specifically on 1st January of a year.
In presenting the ongoing Special Summary Revision status, the CEO, Ladakh informed the receipt of 9101 Form-6 applications for addition, 3129 Form-7 applications for deletion, and 8597 Form-8 applications for correction/updating. Additionally, the CEO highlighted that 23,000 EPICs of Leh District have been printed and provided to respective BLOs for distribution. Approximately 20,000 EPICs for Kargil district are currently in the printing process and will be available to respective BLOs soon.
The CEO Ladakh encouraged political party representatives to communicate election-related issues and provide inputs to the concerned District Electoral Officers (DEOs) periodically, seeking cooperation to ensure the preparation of a comprehensive and healthy electoral roll.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the BJP, INC, AAP, and JKNC. Additionally, the District Election Officers of Leh and Kargil, Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) 1-Ladakh PC, Deputy DEOs of Leh and Kargil, and AEROs (Tehsildars) were also present.