There have been regular complaints of deaths of voters and booth-level officers (BLO) allegedly triggered by either suicides or severe cardiac arrests and cerebral attacks in Bengal since the announcement of the SIR exercise was made in the state.

A female BLO who was an Anganwadi in Jalpaiguri died by suicide in Jalpaiguri district in the state, allegedly because of relentless work pressure in connection with rigorous SIR duty.

The incident took place hardly 10 days after another BLO in East Burdwan on 9 November died of a cerebral attack allegedly triggered by the tremendous workload due to the ongoing electoral roll revision drive.

With reports of these suicidal and normal deaths and suicide attempts, both ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition BJP got involved in attacks and counterattacks with each other for the past several weeks.

Hours after the BLO’s death on Wednesday, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came down heavily on the Election Commission of India (ECI), saying lives are lost due to work pressure and stress generated by the SIR process in the state.

She urged the commission to “immediately halt this unplanned drive before more lives are lost.” The saffron camp alleged that the ruling party has been spreading an atmosphere of panic among common people through regular negative campaigns against the SIR process.

(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)