‘Stressed’ BLO found hanging in Bengal’s Nadia, ‘suicide note’ holds ECI responsible; TMC accuses ECI of bias, links SIR to multiple deaths
KOLKATA, Nov 22: The BJP on Saturday claimed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is raising objections to the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls and engaging in politics of appeasement as she senses imminent defeat of the Trinamool Congress in the assembly polls next year.
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed Banerjee is “scared” of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) because it will expose the “infiltrators” that the ruling TMC has “nurtured” as its vote bank in the state.
“When the news came on various TV channels that the infiltrators were returning to their country… Mamata Banerjee appeared sad, worried and deeply distressed,” Bhata told reporters at the BJP headquarters here.
“Mamata Banerjee is now thinking that she nurtured these infiltrators, got them fake certificates so that when the time comes they vote for her, but they are going back to their country now, when elections are coming,” he said.Meanwhile, Banerjee is set to hold a rally in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas district, in West Bengal on November 25 before leading a 3-km march from Chandpara to Thakurnagar — the spiritual headquarters of the Matua community — as part of her campaign against SIR of electoral rolls.
This marks the latest escalation in her campaign against the SIR, a drive she has denounced as “coercive” and “chaotic”.
“Why is Mamata Banerjee so worried and anxious about the SIR, which will ensure only those who are Indian citizens can vote? What compulsion does she have?” Bhatia jibed.
The BJP spokesperson alleged that Banerjee’s entire political disposition has been based on “communal polarisation and the votes of infiltrators”.
BLO FOUND DEAD
A woman working as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in West Bengal’s Nadia district was found hanging at her residence on Saturday, with her family members claiming that she was under considerable SIR work-related stress and died by suicide, police said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the BLO’s death and said this has become “truly alarming now”.
In a “suicide note” shared by the CM, the deceased held the ECI responsible for this consequence. Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha, however, claimed that the suicide note is fake.The ruling TMC claimed that 34 people, including BLOs, have died during the ongoing SIR exercise which began on November 4, and demanded that the ECI take responsibility for these deaths.
“Profoundly shocked to know of the death of yet another BLO, a lady para-teacher, who has committed suicide at Krishnanagar today. BLO of part number 201 of AC 82 Chapra, Smt Rinku Tarafdar, has blamed ECI in her suicide note (copy is attached herewith) before committing suicide at her residence today,” Banerjee said in a post on X.
She said, “How many more lives will be lost? How many more need to die for this SIR? How many more dead bodies shall we see for this process? This has become truly alarming now!!” The 52-year-old woman, a para-teacher at Vivekananda Vidyamandir, was found hanging from the ceiling of her room at her residence in the Bangaljhi locality of Chapra in Krishnanagar, a police officer said.“The family is claiming that she was under immense pressure due to her SIR workload. We have recovered a note from her room. The body has been sent for postmortem. A probe is underway,” the officer added. The deceased also stated in the note that she was not a supporter of any political party and was an ordinary citizen.“I wanted to live. My family lacks nothing. But, for this modest job, they pushed me to such humiliation that I was left with no choice but to die. The EC is responsible for this consequence,” she alleged in the suicide note written in Bengali.“I cannot bear this inhuman workload. I am a part-time teacher, and my salary is very low compared to my effort, yet they will not relieve me. I had completed 95 per cent of the offline work, but I was unable to manage the online tasks. Despite informing the BDO office and my supervisor, no action was taken,” it said.The chief minister on Thursday wrote a strongly-worded letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, asking him to immediately halt the SIR exercise which, she claimed, was “chaotic, coercive and dangerous”. (PTI)
