SIR: 3 BLO Deaths in UP, Rajasthan in 3 Days; EC Posts Videos of Staff Dancing During Breaks
New Delhi: Two booth-level officers (BLOs) from Uttar Pradesh and one from Rajasthan died in the past three days – their families citing increased workload amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls underway across 12 states and Union Territories.
Several such cases of BLO deaths have come to light in recent months, with opposition parties questioning the government and the Election Commission (EC) over their apathy towards the plight of the ground-level workers.
Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, 46-year-old Sarvesh Singh died by suicide in the early hours of Sunday (November 30).
Singh left behind a suicide note in which he referred to the immense pressure from the SIR exercise and that he was feeling “suffocated” due to the lack of time to complete the job he had been assigned. He had been appointed as a BLO on October 7, 2025.
"BLO Sarvesh Singh has committed suicide and has left behind a suicide note stating that he is unable to cope with the burden of BLO duty. His body has been sent for post-mortem," Circle Officer (Thakurdwara) Ashish Pratap Singh, according to news agency PTI.
In Bijnor, 56-year-old Shobharani too allegedly succumbed to the pressure from SIR. The BLO died of a cardiac arrest on Friday night (November 28).
Her husband said that she had been unwell for some time and had continued uploading SIR forms online till late Friday night. Later that night, she complained of severe chest pain and was rushed to Moradabad hospital where she died.
District programme officer Vimal Kumar Chaubey said that there was no work-related pressure on Shobharani, who was also an Anganwadi worker.
Also read: ‘Inhuman Pressure’: Bengal BLO Suicide Note Blames EC as Crisis Deepens
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan’s Dholpur, Anuj Garg, a BLO in his early-40s died of a cardiac arrest in the early hours of Sunday. He had been working late into the night according to his family.
His sister, Vandana, told the Indian Express, “He was doing SIR work at 1 am. He was under stress due to intense work pressure and felt uneasy. He asked me for tea, but even before I could make tea, he collapsed.”
While his supervisor, Lokendra Kumar Kshotriya, told the paper that Garg had been doing good work and had covered nearly 80% of the 1,100 voters under his jurisdiction, another BLO, who worked alongside Garg, said that they were all under immense stress.
“He never complained about work and had been making good progress. We were expecting that he would finish it soon. We were regularly in touch, and the SDM, too, had held a meeting, just two days ago, where he (Garg) had said that he would wrap work soon,” the supervisor said.
Garg, who was a government school teacher, is survived by his wife and two children.
Other BLO deaths
The Wire has previously reported on BLO deaths in UP, West Bengal and other parts of the country as officials continue to work under immense pressure.
Last month, Vipin Yadav, a primary school teacher from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda and Sudhir Kumar, a Lekhpal in Fatehpur, died by suicide. Yadav's dying declaration had been caught on camera, in which he accused the SDM, BDO and Lekhpal of harassing him. His brother claimed that officials were forcing him to delete names of people belonging to Other Backward Caste communities.
Kumar died by suicide on November 25, a day before his wedding. He had reportedly missed an SIR meeting due to wedding preparations at his house. This had attracted a suspension and a reprimand for Kumar from a senior official. Kumar’s sister claimed an official’s visit to Kumar’s house was particularly humiliating.
In West Bengal, Rinku Tarafdar, a 52-year-old para-teacher and BLO died by suicide on November 22. She had cited " inhuman pressure" from the SIR exercise as the reason for her death.
Tarafdar's death came barely days after another BLO in North Bengal allegedly died by suicide under similar circumstances earlier that week, fuelling fears that the SIR cycle is pushing field-level workers to breaking point.
EC's silence
Amid mounting criticism over the pressure under which BLOs are working, and the cases of deaths by suicides among government employees engaged in the SIR, the Election Commission is yet to acknowledge the toll that the process has taken on BLOs.
The poll body has focused on how BLOs have been coping with the work pressure, taking dance breaks, and receiving encouragement for their work.
On Sunday the Election Commission put out two videos in which it showed BLOs in Kerala taking a break and dancing amid SIR work.
Quick Break, Stronger Team ✨
Election officials including BLOs enjoying break time in between their work under the ongoing #SIR in #Kerala @Ceokerala pic.twitter.com/PpdGlBT8nW
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) November 30, 2025
It has also put out a series of videos from Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh of "inspiring" stories of BLOs who have been working to meet the SIR deadline despite personal odds.
दंतेवाड़ा के घने जंगलों, पहाड़ियों और नदियों को पार करते हुए घर-घर जाकर BLO गणना प्रपत्र भर रहे हैं, ताकि हर मतदाता का नाम सटीक रूप से दर्ज हो सके।
📍दंतेवाड़ा, छत्तीसगढ़ #SaluteToBLOs #ECI #BLOs #SIR pic.twitter.com/IC9uO3NFqW
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) November 28, 2025
While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had last week accused the EC of having "blood on its hands", the poll body later put out press releases from August, when the Bihar SIR was underway to state that the BLOs remuneration had been increased during the exercise. The TMC has accused the poll body of releasing four-month old releases to "whip up fake excitement and glorify" the EC.
On Sunday, the EC announced that the deadline for the SIR exercise has been extended from December 4 to December 12.
This article went live on December first, two thousand twenty five, at thirty minutes past one in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
