Mamata slams ECI after death of BLO in Jalpaiguri, alleges 'unbearable SIR pressure'
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed shock over the death of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Jalpaiguri's Mal block, alleging that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has imposed "inhuman" pressure on field workers and led to 28 deaths so far.
The chief minister claimed the deceased — an anganwadi worker engaged as a BLO — died by suicide due to the "unbearable pressure" of the revision exercise being undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
In a strongly worded statement posted on X, Banerjee criticised the Election Commission for what she described as an "unplanned, relentless workload" ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
"Deeply shocked and saddened. Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer in Mal, Jalpaiguri — an anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work," she wrote on X.
She said 28 people have already lost their lives since SIR began, some due to fear and uncertainty, others due to stress and overload.
"Such precious lives are being lost because of the unplanned, relentless workload imposed by the so-called Election Commission of India. A process that earlier took three years is now being forced into two months on the eve of elections to please political masters, putting inhuman pressure on BLOs," she said.
Banerjee urged the Election Commission to "act with conscience" and suspend the drive immediately, warning that more lives may be lost if the current pace of SIR work continues.
"I urge the ECI to act with conscience and immediately halt this unplanned drive before more lives", she said.
TMC leaders have repeatedly accused the ECI of advancing deadlines and burdening BLOs with excessive field verification tasks in the run-up to the polls.
The ruling party has maintained that several workers have collapsed due to long working hours, travel requirements, and pressure to meet deadlines.
There was no immediate response from the ECI to the chief minister's allegations.
Opposition parties, however, have dismissed the TMC's accusations, saying the government is attempting to deflect responsibility for poor administrative support to field-level workers.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
