Is the Death of 33 Booth Level Officers Acceptable? Kapil Sibal Questions Government Over SIR Process

New Delhi:
Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Monday launched a sharp attack on the government over the deaths of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, questioning whether such losses could be justified in the name of identifying alleged infiltrators.

Sibal’s remarks came a day after a BLO was found dead in West Bengal’s Bankura district, triggering allegations that excessive work pressure linked to the SIR process may have led to his death. Taking to social media platform X, Sibal said that another BLO in Bengal had allegedly died by suicide, taking the total number of such deaths across the country to 33.

“If even one alleged infiltrator is considered unacceptable, then is the death of 33 Booth Level Officers acceptable?” Sibal asked, in a pointed reference to the government’s stance on removing suspected illegal migrants from voter lists.

His comments follow statements made last month by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who asserted that the government would identify and expel infiltrators from the country. Shah had also accused certain political parties of opposing the SIR exercise because, according to him, they wanted the names of infiltrators to remain on electoral rolls.

Incident in Bankura

The latest case was reported from the Ranibandh block of Bankura, where the body of Hardhan Mondal, a school teacher and BLO for Booth No. 206 in the Rajkata area, was found on Sunday morning on a school campus. Police officials said a suicide note was recovered from the spot.

According to the police, Mondal had mentioned in the note that he was unable to cope with the work-related pressure associated with his responsibilities as a BLO. The note reportedly bore his signature, strengthening suspicions that professional stress played a role in his death.

Growing Concerns

The deaths of BLOs linked to the SIR process have sparked growing concern and political debate, with opposition leaders demanding accountability and a review of the workload imposed on ground-level election staff. Sibal’s intervention has added momentum to these demands, placing the government under pressure to respond to allegations that administrative targets are being pursued at the cost of human lives.

As investigations continue into the recent death, the issue has once again highlighted the human toll of large-scale administrative exercises and raised serious questions about the safeguards in place for frontline officials tasked with implementing them.