Fourth BLO death in Bengal: Why election staff are dying under SIR pressure

Each BLO is responsible for one polling booth, covering about 1,000 voters across roughly 300 households.

The recent deaths of multiple Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in West Bengal amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls have sparked national outrage, raising concerns over the extreme work pressure faced by these frontline election officials.

On Thursday, Zakir Hossain, a state-run primary school teacher serving as a BLO in Murshidabad district, died of cardiac arrest. His family alleged that stress from SIR duties, coupled with his teaching responsibilities, contributed to his death. Hossain reportedly collapsed after experiencing severe chest pain and could not be revived despite medical intervention.

This is the fourth SIR-related death reported in the state since November 4. Earlier, a BLO in Bardhaman district died of a heart attack, while two others in Nadia and Jalpaiguri districts reportedly committed suicide due to mounting workload.

BLOs are tasked with verifying voter information at the grassroots level, ensuring electoral rolls are accurate. During the ongoing SIR phase across 12 states and union territories, they must distribute and collect thousands of forms, cross-check entries with old records, and conduct repeated door-to-door verification, often while managing full-time jobs.

Officials and unions have claimed the workload is overwhelming, with repeated visits to households and strict deadlines adding to the strain.

In Kerala, one BLO reportedly stripped in public while filling forms, prompting an Election Commission show-cause notice.

The deaths have triggered criticism of the Election Commission.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has called the situation “truly alarming,” demanding a halt to the SIR exercise, citing “inhuman” work pressure. She pointed to a suicide note in Chapra, Nadia, reportedly blaming the EC.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has also accused the EC of creating “chaos” and called the exercise “an imposed tyranny,” noting that in three weeks, 16 BLOs have lost their lives to stress, heart attacks, and suicide. He also alleged additional pressure from political parties to meet near-impossible verification targets.

The BJP has, however, countered, stating that the deaths were not solely due to SIR workload, but also political and administrative pressure from state authorities.

Each BLO is responsible for one polling booth, covering about 1,000 voters across roughly 300 households. Completing the assigned work requires visiting about 20 households per day, but repeated verifications, tight deadlines, and balancing other jobs make the work exceptionally demanding.

According to the Election Commission, 98.89% of voters in SIR states and union territories have received their forms, with 20.19% of data digitised.

The exercise is ongoing in Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Assam is also carrying out a separate “Special Revision” ahead of state elections.