The death of a booth-level officer (BLO) in the Kaliachak 1 block of Malda on Thursday prompted his family to allege that he had died because of mental stress while carrying out the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.

Mohammad Anikul Alam, 55, was a geography teacher at the Kaliachak High School. He was assigned the duty at booth 144 in the Sujapur Assembly constituency.

Mohammad Mehbub Alam, his son, said the teacher had been under considerable stress in recent months.

“My father attended school regularly despite not being physically well. My mother suffered two cardiac attacks earlier and also underwent hip replacement surgery. He was trying to manage both family responsibilities and official duties,” he said.

Mehbub alleged that on Wednesday, his father was summoned to the Kaliachak 1 BDO office, where he was informed that 41 enumeration forms — including his
own — had been returned by the Election Commission because of certain discrepancies.

“After learning this, he felt unwell and was taken to the Kaliachak block hospital. The doctor advised him to avoid stress and take rest. However, after returning home, his condition deteriorated again. He was rushed to a private nursing home, where he passed away today (on Thursday),” Mehbub said.

The son claimed that the mounting pressure related to the SIR process led to his father’s sudden death.

The deceased’s neighbours also sounded disgruntled.

Mohammad Abu Bakkar, a neighbour, held the Election Commission responsible for the death, while alleging that excessive workload during the ongoing electoral process was taking a toll on field-level workers.

Asish Kundu, the spokesperson for the Trinamool Congress in Malda, said: “The loss of a life cannot be compensated by any means. However, the EC and the central government must make every effort to support the families of those who have died during this process.”

BJP leaders, on the other hand, termed the death unfortunate but accused Trinamool of politicising the incident.

“We have heard that the BLO was already ill. It is unfortunate, but the way Trinamool is trying to politicise natural deaths is highly condemnable,” said Amlan
Bhaduri, a state general secretary of the BJP based in Malda.

Several people engaged for the SIR duties had died in many parts of Bengal, prompting Trinamool to
target the Election Commission.

But the BJP castigated Trinamool for politicising deaths for electoral benefits.