BLO dies by suicide in Kerala, family blames SIR-related pressure | India News

George, who worked as an office assistant at an aided upper primary school in Kannur district, was found dead at his house on Sunday.

Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Dr Rathan U Kelkar said, “We are awaiting a report from the District Collector, Kannur, in this regard. We will react after getting the report from the Collector.”

George was assigned the 18th booth, under Payyannur Assembly constituency. His family friend and neighbour, Thamban, said George had been under strain regarding completing the SIR process.

“He had shared his concerns with others. Aneesh was not familiar with the booth that was assigned to him. Hence, he had been facing difficulties in distributing enumeration forms to voters,” Thamban said.

Another of his friends, Shiju, also told the media that booth level agents (BLAs) of political parties did not accompany the BLO. “He had sought the help of BLAs of Congress and CPI(M). When the CPI(M) BLA failed to turn up, he was instructed not to go with the Congress BLA. He was tense as he could not complete the distribution of the enumeration forms on time,” he said.

However, T Manoharan, Assistant Electoral Registration Officer of Payyanur constituency, said George had to distribute forms to 1,065 voters and as of Saturday, he had distributed 878 forms. This meant that only a small portion of the task remained. “I cannot comment on whether he was under pressure or not. His suicide has been reported to the higher-ups,” said the officer.

Both the CPI(M) and Congress have come out against the ECI over the death of the BLO. CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan said the incident was unfortunate and that BLOs are facing tremendous pressure. “We had asked the Election Commission to postpone the SIR till the elections to the local bodies are over. However, the ECI took a unilateral decision,” he said.

Congress’s Kannur district president Martin George sought a detailed probe into the incident. “We have also sought the postponement of SIR. BLOs have to be helped by the booth level agents of political parties. Since local body elections are slated for next month, local-level political leaders are fully engaged with campaigning. We have learned that the BLO had faced a threat from CPI(M). Let there be a probe into the incident. It is true that BLOs are facing immense pressure,” he said.

As per the data of the ECI, enumeration forms have reached 93% of voters. The distribution of the forms began on November 4, and the BLOs have been told to complete the process — getting the forms filled — by December 4.

Local body elections are set to be held in Kerala on December 9 and 11. The ECI and the State Election Commission, which is conducting the local body elections, have reached a consensus to ensure that BLOs involved in the SIR are exempted from duties related to local body polls.