Nadia, West Bengal: A female poll official was discovered dead in Nadia, West Bengal, with her family attributing her death to the intense pressure of voter roll revision duties. The deceased was working as a Booth Level Officer (BLO).
The family of the deceased claimed she was under immense stress due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Police have recovered a note from her room, and the body has been sent for post-mortem examination. Authorities have launched an investigation into the matter.
In a separate incident earlier in the week, another BLO allegedly died by suicide in the Jalpaiguri district, with the family making similar claims of unbearable work pressure. Shantimoni Ekka, 48, an ICDS worker assigned as a BLO in New Glencoe tea estate, was found hanging near her home. Her husband, Suku Ekka, filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the Malbazar police station, naming the Election Commission of India. He alleged that his wife struggled with the SIR process, especially with tea estate workers who were often not home during the day, forcing her to work late into the night. He added that her inability to read or write Bengali further complicated the form-filling and data uploading.
Adding to the concerns, a 60-year-old BLO in North 24 Parganas district suffered a cerebral attack while on duty. Her family also cited work overload from the SIR as a contributing factor.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed concerns and urged the Election Commission to halt the ongoing SIR in Bengal. She has written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, asserting that the "unplanned and coercive drive" could endanger more lives and compromise the legitimacy of the exercise. Banerjee stated that 28 people have already lost their lives since the SIR began, attributing the deaths to fear, uncertainty, stress, and overload. She criticized the Election Commission for imposing a process that previously took three years but is now being compressed into two months.
Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh, two teachers also working as BLOs have died due to illness while conducting voter list surveys, with relatives alleging heavy workloads and pressure to meet targets as contributing factors. Another BLO in Madhya Pradesh is currently missing.
The Election Commission has sought reports from the District Magistrates of Jalpaiguri and other relevant districts following the deaths and allegations of work pressure. BLOs across Bengal are currently tasked with distributing and collecting enumeration forms, with a deadline of December 4. Many have voiced their concerns about the heavy workload and have even staged protests in recent weeks. The first draft electoral roll is expected to be published on December 9. Assembly polls in Bengal are anticipated around March–April 2026.
