Kolkata, 07 January (H.S.): Another death of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) has been reported in West Bengal. A female BLO died at her home early Wednesday morning in the Phulbari Pakurtala area of Englishbazar Municipality in Malda district. Her family alleged that the excessive pressure of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list led to her deteriorating health and ultimately, her death.

The deceased BLO has been identified as Samprita Chowdhury Sanyal. She was a resident of the Pakurtala area and worked as an ASHA worker. She was responsible for Booth Number 163 in Ward Number 15 of the Englishbazar Municipality area. According to her family, Samprita had been ill for the past few days and was receiving medical treatment, but she died at her home early Wednesday morning.

The deceased woman's husband alleged that despite her illness, Samprita was forced to continue working on the SIR. He claimed that the combination of the SIR work and her duties as an ASHA worker in the cold weather further aggravated her condition. Although the doctor advised her to rest, the pressure of work prevented her from getting adequate rest.

On information, Gayatri Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress councillor of Ward Number 15 of Englishbazar Municipality, visited the deceased's home. She held the Election Commission responsible for the BLO's death, alleging that the excessive pressure from the commission led to Samprita's deteriorating health and ultimately, her death.

Meanwhile, the BJP has retaliated against the Trinamool Congress in this matter. Ajay Gangopadhyay, the president of the South Malda organizational district of the BJP, said that every death is tragic, but it is not right to place all the blame solely on the Election Commission. He alleged that Trinamool representatives and leaders are also putting pressure on the BLOs, which is creating such circumstances. It is noteworthy that seven BLOs (Booth Level Officers) have died in West Bengal during the Special Summary Revision (SSR) process so far. The first death occurred in Purba Bardhaman district just four days after the SSR work began in the state, where BLO Namita Hansda reportedly died due to work pressure. Following this, a BLO died in Jalpaiguri. It is alleged that Shanti Muni Oraon, a resident of the New Glencoe tea garden area in Mal block of Dooars, committed suicide due to work pressure.

Then, on November 21, BLO Rinku Tarafdar committed suicide in Krishnanagar, Nadia district. Police also recovered a suicide note from her. Subsequently, a BLO named Zakir Hussain died of a heart attack in Murshidabad. On December 28, a BLO named Haradhan Mandal committed suicide in Ranibandh, Bankura. And last Saturday, a BLO named Ashish died in Cooch Behar. Within four days of that incident, another BLO death has been reported in the state.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey