A booth-level officer (BLO) engaged in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls died at Khargram in Murshidabad district on Friday, allegedly because of the extreme workload that triggered a cardiac arrest.

Zakir Hossain, 56, a teacher at Digha Primary School and a resident of Jhilli village, was working as the BLO at polling station 14. The booth has about 10,00 voters.

Family members said he developed breathing difficulties and chest pain at home around 3am while uploading enumeration data to the SIR mobile application. He was rushed to Khargram Block Hospital but died on the way. Doctors declared him
brought-dead.

With Hossain’s death, four BLOs have now died since the SIR began on November 4, two of whom are suspected to have committed suicide because of the “inhuman” workload.

The incident prompted a fresh political confrontation, with the Trinamool Congress launching a sharp attack on the Election Commission. The party accused chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of being responsible for the deaths linked to the SIR workload.

Zakir Hossain

A group of Trinamool MPs who visited the EC in the New Delhi office on Friday afternoon said: “His hands are soaked with blood. It is because of him that all the deaths occurred.”

The delegation submitted a list of BLOs who had died or fallen critically ill during the door-to-door enumeration and data-upload process. The Trinamool MPs also handed over five written questions, asking the CEC to clarify the actual purpose of the exercise and whether it was “meant to verify voters or to cast doubt on the very identity of Bengalis”.

Relatives said Hossain had been under “tremendous pressure” juggling teaching responsibilities with SIR duties. His sister, Mumtaj Khatun, said the strenuous enumeration work and continuous uploading of data had taken a severe toll on his health and state of mind.

“For the last few days, he was quite panicked. He was not taking food and worked till late at night. He was suffering from insomnia and respiratory problems because he was not proficient in computer-related work,” she said, adding that her brother had repeatedly requested the district administration to exempt him from the task.

Asit Kamal, a neighbour, said Hossain had repeatedly spoken of his inability to cope with the work. “Every morning, he would go out for SIR work. Then he would upload forms until late at night, which increased his mental stress. He himself claimed that he was not fit enough for the job. He was panicked by the delay and the possibility
of punishment.”

Khargram Trinamool MLA Ashis Marjit, who met the bereaved family members of the deceased BLO, said: “The EC and the BJP are responsible for his death. The unscientific and unplanned workload imposed on BLOs is leading to these deaths.”

Early this week, at least two BLOs also suffered medical emergencies, including Debashis Das of Vijaybati in Frasergunj in Namkhana block and another officer from Konnagar, both of whom suffered cerebral attacks allegedly linked to the pressure of the SIR process.