Another BLO dies by suicide in Bengal, Abhishek Banerjee holds EC responsible for death

Kolkata, Dec 28 Another Booth Level Officer (BLO) died by suicide in ​​the Ranibandh Assembly constituency in Bankura district in West Bengal on Sunday.

The hanging body of a BLO was recovered from a school classroom in the Rajakata area of ​​the district.

Preliminary investigations suggested that Haradhan Mandal, a primary school headmaster by profession, died by suicide.

A suicide note was recovered from the scene. In the note, the teacher wrote about the excessive work pressure due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Upon receiving the news, the Ranibandh police recovered the body and sent it to Bankura Sammilani Medical College for post-mortem.

According to local sources, Haradhan Mandal was the headmaster of Rajakata Majherpara Primary School in Bankura. He was also assigned the responsibility of a BLO for booth number 206 in the Ranibandh Assembly constituency of Bankura. He was called to attend a hearing regarding some voters in his booth. He left his home around 10 a.m. to collect documents for these voters. When he did not return for a long time, his family members became worried.

Later, his family members went to the school looking for him. They found Haradhan's body hanging from a ceiling fan in a classroom, with a rope around his neck. A suicide note was recovered from the scene.

According to the police, the note read, "I can't take the pressure anymore. Goodbye. I am responsible for this. No one else is involved."

The family claimed that Haradhan Mandal was suffering from depression due to the pressure of the SIR work. His son, Soham Mandal, said, "My father couldn't handle the pressure of the SIR work. That's why he committed suicide. There is immense work pressure. There is no training."

Following the death of the BLO, Trinamool Congress All-India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee lashed out at the Election Commission for conducting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state's electoral rolls in a hurried and politically-motivated manner.

Using his X handle, Banerjee claimed that the BLO died by suicide due to the alleged pressure of SIR-related work.

"The death toll keeps mounting. Another BLO appointed and engaged by the @ECISVEEP has taken his own life under the inhuman pressure of a HURRIED, CHAOTIC and POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED SIR process. Shri Haradhan Mondal of 249 Ranibandh AC, Part No. 206, died by suicide. In his suicide note, he explicitly held the inhuman nature of the task responsible for his decision," said Banerjee.

The Trinamool Lok Sabha leader claimed that over 50 lives have been lost for various reasons since the SIR process started in West Bengal.

"Over 50 lives have already been lost to panic, anxiety, exhaustion and fear engineered by a voter-cleansing operation designed for the BJP’s electoral gain. What should have been a methodical process has instead been bulldozed through by a pliant, complicit Election Commission, bending its spine to serve the political arithmetic of ONE PARTY and the ego of ONE MAN," he said.

Slamming the BJP over the death of the BLO, Banerjee said, "And as for the BJP, if people drop dead from fatigue, despair or terror, it is an acceptable collateral cost, a convenient footnote in their power play. History is watching. Bengal will not forgive, and Bengal will not forget."

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