Tension gripped West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Wednesday after the body of a woman, a Booth Level Officer, was discovered inside her home, with family members alleging she took her own life due to overwhelming work pressure. The deceased, identified as Shantimoni Ekka, was found lying in the courtyard by her relatives early in the morning.
According to her family, Ekka had been battling severe mental distress in recent weeks. They said continuous field assignments, demanding election duties, and mounting pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive had become too difficult for her to cope with. Her husband and child claimed this emotional strain pushed her to end her life.
Police have sent the body for a post-mortem examination and launched an investigation to determine the cause of death. The allegation of excessive workload has sparked widespread discussion in the region, especially among frontline polling staff.
Mamata Banerjee expresses shock
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reacted strongly to the news, expressing deep sorrow and anger over yet another loss within the election workforce. In a statement, she said, “Deeply shocked and saddened. Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer in Mal, Jalpaiguri, an anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work.”
She added that 28 election workers have died since the revision exercise began, some due to stress, others out of fear and uncertainty. Slamming the Election Commission of India (ECI), Banerjee said, “Such precious lives are being lost because of the unplanned, relentless workload imposed by the so-called Election Commission of India. A process that earlier took 3 years is now being forced into 2 months on the eve of elections to please political masters.”
She urged the ECI to “act with conscience” and halt the rushed drive before more lives are lost.
ECI team on review visit; BLOs protest workload
The incident comes as Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti is touring West Bengal to review the progress of the SIR programme. The ECI delegation arrived on Tuesday to inspect revision work in Kolkata North, Kolkata South and South 24 Parganas, before moving to Nadia and Murshidabad on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Booth Level Officers across the state have already voiced strong opposition to long hours and tight deadlines. On Monday, many took part in a protest, demanding relief from what they describe as an “inhuman” workload required to complete the massive voter list verification task.