BLO found dead in Bengal's Nadia, family claims SIR work-related stress
Kolkata (PTI): A woman working as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in West Bengal's Nadia district was found hanging at her residence on Saturday morning, with her family members claiming that she was under considerable SIR work-related stress and died by suicide, police said.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee expressed her shock over the BLO's death and said this has become "truly alarming now".
Banerjee in a post on X said, "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.
"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 BLO, identified as 52-year-old Rinku Tarafdar, was found hanging from the ceiling of her room at her residence in the Bangaljhi area of Chapra in Krishnanagar, an 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 necessary probe is underway," the officer added.
Tarafdar, a para-teacher at Vivekananda Vidyamandir, was serving as a BLO for Booth No 201 in Chapra-2 Panchayat, he said.
Police sources said a suicide note was recovered.
In the note, allegedly written by Tarafdar, the deceased "held the EC responsible for her situation".
As per the police officer, the deceased had also mentioned not supporting any political party and was an ordinary citizen.
"I want 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," she alleged in the suicide note.
"I cannot bear this inhuman workload. I am a part-time teacher, and my salary is very low compared to my effort, yet they would 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. I was assigned work for Booth No 201 because no one else was available, while many others were later appointed as BLOs in other booths," it said.
State minister Ujjal Biswas visited the residence of the deceased and spoke to her family members.
The West Bengal Chief Minister had written a strongly worded letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday, asking him to immediately halt the SIR exercise that she claimed was "chaotic, coercive and dangerous".
Banerjee said she was "compelled to write" because the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in the state had reached a "deeply alarming stage", alleging that the drive was being run in an "unplanned, dangerous" manner that had "crippled the system from day one".
The chief minister accused the Election Commission of thrusting the SIR upon officials and citizens "without basic preparedness", flagging "critical gaps in training", confusion over mandatory documents, and the "near-impossibility" of booth-level officers (BLOs) meeting voters "in the midst of their livelihood schedules".
Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha rubbished Banerjee's claims regarding the death of the BLO in Krishnanagar.
He challenged the TMC leadership to demand a CBI probe into the death of the BLO to substantiate their allegations that SIR-related workload was responsible.
"This is absolutely meaningless. If the TMC leaders are brave enough, they should demand a CBI investigation into the death of the BLO. I can challenge them by saying that the suicide note is fake, just like the one we found in the Panihati case," Sinha told PTI.
He further questioned whether the BLO was under pressure from the TMC.
"Who knows whether the TMC was asking her to record the names of the deceased or fake voters, and whether the BLO, unable to cope with that pressure, ended her life," Sinha said.
On Wednesday, a booth-level officer in Jalpaiguri district was found hanging, with her family claiming that "unbearable SIR work pressure" was responsible for her death.
Meanwhile, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sought an immediate report from senior officials of Nadia regarding the death of the BLO.
"We need to understand whether the reported reason behind her death is correct or not," one official said.
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Ayush signs off with silver at Badminton Asia Championships
Ningbo (China) (PTI): India's Ayush Shetty signed off with a silver medal after his giant-killing run ended in a straight-game loss to world No. 2 Shi Yu Qi in the final of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Sunday.
The 20-year-old from Mangalore struggled to find his rhythm, going down 8-21, 10-21 to the reigning world champion from China, as India's 61-year wait for a men's singles gold at the event continued.
Despite the loss, it was a creditable campaign from the unseeded youngster, who became only the second Indian men's singles player after Dinesh Khanna to reach the final of the continental showpiece.
Khanna remains the only Indian singles champion at the event, having won the title in 1965. Since then, only the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have lifted the trophy, winning it in 2023.
World No. 25 Ayush entered the contest on the back of defeats to Shi at the Malaysia Super 1000 earlier this year and the Indonesia Masters last season. However, he had played with far greater control and attacking clarity this week, toppling world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, world No. 4 Jonatan Christie and world No. 7 Li Shi Feng en route to the final.
However, the Indian, a product of the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru, failed to counter the tactical discipline of Shi, who used his repertoire of strokes and deception to deny Ayush the opportunity to play his natural attacking game.
Shi dictated the geometry of the court from the outset, controlling the net exchanges and forcing Ayush into the forecourt battle early. The variation in the Chinese player’s game blunted the Indian’s attack, as his smashes lacked precision and he succumbed to scoreboard pressure, leading to rushed shot-making.
Shi Yu Qi logged the opening points with two fine net dribbles to race to a 4-0 lead, as Ayush’s smashes lacked precision early on and he trailed 2-6. A long rally ended with the Chinese player going wide, offering the Indian some respite. A deceptive net shot helped Shi move to 7-4, and he extended the lead to 11-6 as Ayush struggled for control, committing a string of unforced errors.
Shi mixed it up effectively, producing a lovely drop shot and repeatedly drawing the Indian to the forecourt with cross returns like a metronome, forcing errors. Two down-the-line smashes gave Shi a massive cushion of game points, and he sealed the opening game when Ayush sprayed a return wide.
The Indian needed a complete reset to stay alive, and he responded with a thunderous straight smash before diving on both flanks to keep the shuttle in play and move to 3-1 in the second game. Shi continued to test Ayush with backhand deceptive net strokes and pushes to the deep, but the Indian managed to retrieve everything and even found his precision in time, with an on-the-line smash confirmed by Hawk-Eye and a well-constructed rally taking him to 7-2.
However, he couldn't hold on to the momentum as the Chinese clawed back to 7-7 after two long shots and a smash into the net from Ayush. A return that kissed the backline from Shi, followed by another error from Ayush at the net and a return into the net, handed the Chinese the advantage once again at the interval, as he led 11-8.
Shi’s ability to place the shuttle into empty spaces with his repertoire of strokes, often punctuated by a fierce smash, made life difficult for the Indian as he stretched the lead to 13-8. Soon, the Chinese was up 15-9 with another powerful smash.
A body return followed by a straight smash took him to 17-9, and another long shot from Ayush further dented his chances. A perfectly angled smash into the forehand corner brought Shi within two points of victory. He then unleashed a cross-court smash to earn 10 match points and sealed the contest with a return that cramped the Indian, targeting his hip.
