Another Booth Level Officer (BLO) died in West Bengal’s Malda district, according to reports. The deceased has been identified as Utpal Thokder of Nadapara area, who had been working as a BLO for Special Intensive Revision.
Tokder’s family claims he was under mental stress related to his job. Local administration sources said the booth where Utpal was registered has about 110 names on the 'under consideration' list, causing him severe mental stress, according to Anandbazaar Patrika.
He added that locals were gathering at his house and pressuring him because their names were not included in the voter list. “He was under severe mental stress for the last few days. This situation is due to the pressure of the SIR. In the end, he died of a heart attack," a relative told local media.
He suffered a heart attack at his home on Saturday night, following which he was admitted to Chanchal Super Speciality Hospital. He died there in the early hours of the morning.
Outgoing Maltipur MLA, Trinamool candidate and district Trinamool president Abdur Rahim Bakshi has claimed that he suffered a heart attack after not being able to bear the pressure. "There was always a crowd of people at his house. He suffered a heart attack due to that pressure. The Election Commission is responsible for this. I condemn the Commission and the BJP,” he alleged.
However, it is reported that no complaint has been filed with the police in this regard.
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Two BLOs have died in Malda over the last few weeks. Abul Barkat, a school teacher from Kaliachak in Malda, and Anikul Alam, a teacher at Kaliachak High School, also died of heart disease.
A section of locals claim that there is immense pressure on BLOs due to the names of many voters being in the 'adjudication' or 'under consideration' list in the recent voter list revision process. The number of voters in the booth where Abul was the BLO is over 1,300. Out of them, 850 names are 'under consideration' in the final list. The BLO is facing pressure from voters over this.
