A 54-year-old booth-level officer (BLO) from Malda district in West Bengal died of a heart attack late Saturday night, with his family alleging that the pressure of election-related work drove him to his death. Utpal Thakur, who also worked as a para-teacher, suffered the attack at around 10.30 pm and could not be saved. His family believes the burden of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, assigned to BLOs across the state, played a direct role in his death.
“He was under immense pressure during the ongoing SIR process. Even after the voter list was published on February 28, those who had been placed in the ‘under adjudication’ category often came to him and asked whether their names would appear on the supplementary list,” a family member said. It was learnt that around 110 voters in his booth were placed in the ‘under adjudication’ category in the post-SIR electoral roll.
“The pressure of preparing the supplementary electoral roll caused his heart attack,” another family member alleged, adding that no police complaint was filed.
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Utpal’s wife said, “My husband worked tirelessly in the SIR exercise, but could not handle work-related stress and suffered a heart attack. I don’t know how to manage the family expenses. We hope that the government will support my daughters and me.”
Locals said several of those who were in the ‘under adjudication’ category or whose names were deleted had alleged that the BLO had not properly uploaded their documents on the Election Commission’s website. “People don’t understand the EC’s procedures. They approached the BLO directly and asked whether their documents were uploaded properly or not. Deleted voters often sought the reasons for omission,” said a neighbour of Thakur’s family.
According to official data released on February 28, 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the SIR process began in West Bengal in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed in the ‘under adjudication’ category, meaning their eligibility would be determined through legal scrutiny, a process that could further reshape constituency-level electoral equations.
The supplementary voter lists in the state are expected to be published on Monday.
(With Inputs from PTI)
