25 BLOs Deaths in 22 Days: Madhya Pradesh Tops with 9 Deaths, UP & Gujarat Report 4 Each Amid SIR Voter Verification Row

State-wise BLO Deaths Reported So Far:

- Madhya Pradesh: 9 deaths  

- Uttar Pradesh: 4 deaths  

- Gujarat: 4 deaths  

- West Bengal: 34 claimed by TMC (EC yet to confirm any)  

- Rajasthan, Bihar, and three other states also reported fatalities.

Over 5.32 lakh BLOs (mostly school teachers) are verifying details of more than 51 crore voters across 12 states under the Election Commission’s pre-poll Special Intensive Revision exercise.

Why Are BLOs Dying? Allegations of Extreme Work Pressure

Former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat highlighted:

- Server crashes and technical glitches in the Voter Helpline app

- Removal of CAPTCHA in Madhya Pradesh reduced delays but increased workload

- Teachers juggling school syllabus completion before December deadline

- Night-long uploads to avoid peak-hour server failure

In Uttar Pradesh, families alleged targeted deletion of OBC and minority voters. Late Vipin Yadav (Gonda), who died by suicide, was reportedly pressurized to remove OBC names and add general-category voters even without Aadhaar. Another BLO, Sarvesh Gangwar (Bareilly), collapsed and died on November 26 after working late nights.

Political Firestorm Over SIR 2025

- Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal CM): Called SIR a “back-door NRC” to disenfranchise minorities; TMC claims 34 deaths in Bengal alone.

- Rahul Gandhi (LoP): Accused BJP of preparing voter lists to exclude backward classes, Dalits, and poor.

- Akhilesh Yadav (SP Chief): Alleged plan to delete 3 crore names; demanded ₹1 crore compensation per deceased BLO (SP to give ₹2 lakh from party fund).

- BJP’s Amit Malviya & Sudhanshu Trivedi: Rejected allegations, claimed opposition spreading fear; fake and suspicious names being added under TMC pressure.

Supreme Court Stand on Special Summary Revision

On Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ruled:

- SIR cannot be challenged just because it is first-of-its-kind

- Election Commission has constitutional power to verify Form-6 data

- Aadhaar is NOT proof of citizenship

- Prior notice mandatory before deleting any voter’s name

Next hearing: November 28, 2025.

Election Commission’s Response

The EC has:

- Sought detailed reports from states

- Demanded action report within 48 hours from Kolkata Police over protest at CEO office

- Maintained that no death has been officially linked to work pressure yet

With the nationwide Census 2025 looming, teachers fear another round of excessive administrative burden.