SIR exercise: 2 more BLO deaths in Guj, Bengal; TMC says CEC has 'blood on his hands'

Two primary school teachers deployed as booth-level officers (BLOs) for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have died of cardiac arrest in West Bengal’s Murshidabad and Gujarat’s Mehsana districts, triggering outrage and renewed allegations that BLOs are being pushed to breaking point.

The deaths — West Bengal’s fourth BLO fatality since the exercise began on 4 November — have intensified a political confrontation over the scale, pace and design of the nationwide revision drive, currently underway in 12 states and Union Territories.

In Delhi, a 10-member Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation met the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing the poll body of imposing an “inhumane, unplanned” and ultimately deadly workload on BLOs. Emerging from the meeting, TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said the party told Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar that he had “blood on his hands”.

According to O’Brien, the delegation asked five specific questions related to workload, accountability and safety protections for BLOs. “We did not receive a single answer,” he said, adding that while the TMC spoke for about 40 minutes, the CEC “spoke uninterrupted for one hour” without addressing their concerns.

Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra said the party presented a list of 40 deaths they claim are linked to the SIR exercise — a list the ECI dismissed as “mere allegations”.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has also accused the ECI of forcing frontline personnel to manage an “unscientific and punishing” schedule that disregards their primary responsibilities as teachers.

The BJP has rejected these accusations, arguing that any stress BLOs are experiencing is a product not of ECI procedures but of “political and administrative pressure” from the ruling TMC in West Bengal.

In Gujarat’s Mehsana district, 50-year-old Dinesh Raval — a government primary schoolteacher deployed as a BLO in Sudasana village — died at home after a cardiac arrest between Thursday night and Friday morning. While the state Congress and teacher unions blamed excessive SIR-related pressure and inadequate support systems, police denied any link, stating it was a medical incident.

Teacher association president Digvijaysinh Jadeja said colleagues had told him Raval was “under pressure due to BLO work”, while Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi alleged that BLOs across the state were being “forced to meet impossible deadlines”.

In Murshidabad, West Bengal, Zakir Hossain — also a primary schoolteacher assigned BLO duties — complained of severe chest pain on Thursday afternoon, collapsed while on duty, and died hours later in hospital.

His family said he had been under “tremendous pressure” juggling SIR responsibilities alongside regular teaching work. Relatives claimed his school refused repeated requests to relieve him from classroom duties, forcing him to handle both roles simultaneously.

The controversy is not limited to Bengal and Gujarat. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav escalated his attack on the EC, calling the SIR exercise a “big conspiracy” that could push citizens into a state “worse than the colonial era.” In a video posted on X, Yadav urged all opposition parties — including those allied with the BJP-led NDA — to unite against what he described as a “mega-conspiracy”.

He warned that the present “fraud with democracy” would not stop at voter rolls: “Today votes are being cut. Tomorrow names will be removed from land records, ration cards, caste certificates, reservations, and later even from bank accounts and lockers of the middle class.”

BJP spokesperson Harishchandra Srivastava dismissed the comments as a deliberate attempt to sow panic and confusion.

Amid intensifying criticism, the ECI noted that Lakshadweep has become the first Union territory to complete 100 per cent distribution and digitisation of enumeration forms under the SIR initiative — a reminder, the EC suggested, that the process is functioning smoothly elsewhere.

With PTI inputs