Mamata slams ECI after death of BLO, alleges 'unbearable SIR pressure'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed shock over the death of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Jalpaiguri's Mal block, alleging that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has imposed "inhuman" pressure on field workers and led to 28 deaths so far.

The chief minister claimed the deceased an anganwadi worker engaged as a BLO died by suicide due to the "unbearable pressure" of the revision exercise being undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

In a strongly worded statement posted on X, Banerjee criticised the Election Commission for what she described as an "unplanned, relentless workload" ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

"Deeply shocked and saddened. Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer in Mal, Jalpaiguri an anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work," she wrote on X.

She said 28 people have already lost their lives since SIR began, some due to fear and uncertainty, others due to stress and overload.

"Such precious lives are being lost because of the unplanned, relentless workload imposed by the so-called Election Commission of India. A process that earlier took three years is now being forced into two months on the eve of elections to please political masters, putting inhuman pressure on BLOs," she said.

Banerjee urged the Election Commission to "act with conscience" and suspend the drive immediately, warning that more lives may be lost if the current pace of SIR work continues.

"I urge the ECI to act with conscience and immediately halt this unplanned drive before more lives", she said.

TMC leaders have repeatedly accused the ECI of advancing deadlines and burdening BLOs with excessive field verification tasks in the run-up to the polls.

The ruling party has maintained that several workers have collapsed due to long working hours, travel requirements, and pressure to meet deadlines.

There was no immediate response from the ECI to the chief minister's allegations.

Opposition parties, however, have dismissed the TMC's accusations, saying the government is attempting to deflect responsibility for poor administrative support to field-level workers.