The Trinamool Congress has alleged that BJP workers set fire to a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) assistance camp the party had set up in Kalyani, located in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
In a social media post on Sunday, the TMC said the camp in Ward No. 6 of Kalyani town had been vandalised and subsequently torched.
"A SIR assistance camp, organised by the Trinamool Congress, was vandalised and set on fire at a location adjacent to the party office in Ward No. 6, Kalyani Town. This was carried out by BJP supporters," the party claimed, sharing a video purportedly showing the damaged camp.
According to the TMC, the camp—meant to offer support and assistance to the public—was attacked "in a deliberate act of vandalism, destroying property and equipment."
Police officials said a manhunt has been initiated to identify and arrest those responsible for the incident.
Dismissing the allegations, a district BJP leader said the episode stemmed from internal conflicts within the ruling party and not from any action by the BJP.
Earlier on Saturday, Rinku Tarafdar, a booth-level officer in Nadia, was found hanging, a purported suicide note referring to the “inhuman” workload and her fear of punishment for failing to meet the deadline for uploading SIR data.
“I wanted to live… but they compelled me to die because of such failure,” Rinku, 54, the second BLO reported to have committed suicide in Bengal because of SIR-related stress, wrote.
Her death triggered a political slugfest with chief minister Mamata Banerjee asking the Election Commission “how many more lives will be lost” in implementing the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bengal.
Rinku, who lacked computer skills, wrote that she had nearly finished her offline tasks but was unable to upload the data online, and had been rebuked for the delay.
The contractual schoolteacher added that she had been burdened with additional responsibility for another part of her constituency, Chapra, after the designated BLO remained absent.
When Rinku’s husband Ashis woke early on Saturday at their home in Sashthitala, Krishnanagar, he could not see her. Searching for her, he found a second-floor room locked.
He broke the door open with neighbours’ help to find his wife hanging from the ceiling fan. She was declared dead on arrival at the Nadia District Hospital.
Ashis, who owns a fuel station in Chapra, alleged “murder by the EC”.
“My wife was under immense pressure because of the heavy workload and became depressed because she could not manage the online work as she was not tech-savvy,” he said.
“She feared punishment for the delay. She repeatedly asked for help with her online tasks and even submitted a written appeal to the district administration. But the officer refused to accept the application and rebuked her for lacking computer skills…. They literally killed her.”
Sister-in-law Sadhana said a depressed Rinku had almost stopped eating.
Bengal’s chief electoral officer, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, has sought a report from Nadia district magistrate Aneesh Dasgupta on the circumstances leading to Rinku’s death.
Three BLOs have now died during the SIR in Bengal, two of them by suspected suicide.