Malda: Malda witnessed renewed tension on Wednesday following the death of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The deceased, Samprita Choudhury Sanyal (48), was an ICDS worker by profession and a resident of the Phulbari Pakurtala area under English Bazar Municipality. She was entrusted with BLO duties at Booth No. 163 under Ward No. 15 of the municipal area.
According to her family, Samprita had been under tremendous work pressure over the past several days due to SIR-related responsibilities. The situation, they alleged, was aggravated by severe winter conditions.
Her husband, Ardhendu Choudhury, claimed that she had fallen seriously ill due to continuous work and stress.
“My wife was under extreme pressure because of the SIR work. She became unwell and we took her to a doctor, who clearly advised medicines. But the workload was so heavy and she worked without a break in this severe cold. Her health deteriorated further, and she died early this morning,” Ardhendu Choudhury said.
Following the incident, local Trinamool Congress councillor Gayatri Ghosh visited the bereaved family to express condolences. She strongly criticised the Election Commission, alleging that excessive workload during the SIR process was pushing BLOs beyond their physical limits.
“BLOs are being forced to work under tremendous pressure for long hours. Many of them are falling ill. This tragic death is the result of the additional and relentless pressure imposed during SIR,” Gayatri Ghosh alleged, demanding a review of the working conditions of BLOs. “The whole matter would be reported to Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of TMC, on a visit to North Bengal districts,” added Ghosh. The issue soon snowballed into a political controversy, with the BJP countering the Trinamool’s allegations. Ajoy Gangopadhyay, president of the BJP’s South Malda Organisational District, said that while the death was tragic, blaming the Election Commission alone was inappropriate.
“Any death is extremely unfortunate and painful. However, it is not right to put the entire responsibility on the Election Commission. Trinamool leaders and local elected representatives also put pressure on BLOs to meet targets. That combined pressure is what leads to such situations,” Gangopadhyay said.
Meanwhile the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, taking to ‘X’ handle, claimed that the death of another BLO Jayanti Sarkar of Kushmandi, Dakshin Dinajpur on December 27, 2025 was due to cardiac arrest linked to pre-existing illness. He urged people not to connect the death with SIR activities, which are being conducted as per ECI guidelines.