A 48-year-old booth-level officer (BLO) died in West Bengal’s Malda district late on Wednesday night, with her family alleging that excessive workload during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise severely affected her health.

Shamprita Choudhury Sanyal, a resident of the Phulbari Pakurtala area in Malda, collapsed while being taken to hospital and was declared dead on the way. She was working as a BLO in Ward 18 of English Bazar Municipality.

Family alleges extreme work stress

Shamprita was an ICDS worker by profession and had been assigned BLO duties as part of the election-related SIR process. Her husband, Ardhendu Choudhury, said she had been under “tremendous pressure” for several days.

“In this biting cold, she was made to work even in open fields while collecting documents,” he said. “She could not sleep properly and often stayed awake until 2 am due to fresh instructions coming from the office. All this affected her health badly.”

According to the family, Shamprita developed a sore throat and fever on December 30. A doctor advised her to take rest, but her condition worsened the following evening when she developed breathing difficulties.

Died while being taken to hospital

“She was nebulised at home, but there was no improvement,” her family said. “We decided to rush her to the hospital, but she died on the way.”

Her sudden death has sparked outrage locally, with concerns being raised over the workload imposed on grassroots election staff during winter conditions.

Political reactions follow death

Gayatri Ghosh, a local Trinamool Congress councillor, directly blamed election-related pressure for the tragedy. “The inhuman pressure of the Election Commission amid such harsh weather conditions took her life,” she alleged.

However, BJP district president Ajoy Ganguly rejected the claim and said the Election Commission should not be held responsible for the death. He urged restraint until medical findings were formally reviewed.

Renewed concerns over staff welfare

The incident has renewed debate over the physical and mental strain faced by BLOs and other frontline workers during election exercises, especially when duties involve long hours, fieldwork, and frequent last-minute instructions.

Local residents and staff associations have called for clearer guidelines, humane work schedules, and health safeguards to prevent such incidents in the future.