KRISHNANAGAR: In a sad and shocking event, 51-year-old Rinku Tarafdar from Nadia district became the second BLO (Booth Level Officer) to die by suicide in West Bengal within just three days. This tragic news shines a bright spotlight on the heavy pressure these government workers face during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. At least six BLO suicides have been reported from five different states. Rinku was a para-teacher who worked hard distributing forms for the voter list revision. On Friday night, she was found hanging in her home. She left behind a touching two-page suicide note in Bengali. In her note, she held the Election Commission (EC) responsible, saying, "I do not support any political party. I am a very ordinary person. But, I cannot handle this inhuman work pressure." She also wrote that despite poor pay, she was never given a break from her BLO duties. She expressed deep fear about the "administrative fallout" if she failed to complete the task. "I have completed 95% of the offline work, but I don't know anything about the online work. Informing the supervisor also yielded no results," Rinku wrote painfully. Her family said she was struggling because she did not know how to use digital tools. Her husband Ashim Tarafdar said, "She distributed the forms on time, but didn't know anything about uploading. This is not suicide, but murder by the EC." Just two days before, in Jalpaiguri, a 48-year-old anganwadi worker and BLO was also found dead. Her family said her inability to read, write, or speak Bengali made the SIR form-filling and online uploading very hard for her. Besides Bengal, other suicides of BLOs have been reported in Kerala, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her "profound shock" on X. She shared Rinku's suicide note, asking, "How many more lives will be lost? How many more need to die for this SIR? How many more dead bodies shall we see?" Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra posted a video reading the note in Hindi and English to make sure everyone hears Rinku’s distress. The Bengal BJP showed sorrow but also questioned the suicide note. Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya said, "The death has to be probed. It seems that any death from even a snake bite in Bengal will now be termed as a suicide due to EC. If any party thinks EC is working in connivance with some political outfit, they should knock on the doors of Supreme Court. EC wants to cleanse electoral rolls and that is against the interests of Trinamool Congress." BJP state general secretary Agnimitra Paul pointed out that BLOs were not comfortable with online work and said the TMC government must take responsibility for not recruiting 1,000 data entry operators, which EC had requested. Manoj Agarwal, Chief Electoral Officer of Bengal, said he is still waiting for reports from the district officials about the two deaths. "Once we get the report, we will send it to EC for consideration," he added. The tragic deaths highlight the huge challenges and unseen struggles of BLOs working tirelessly during election preparations. Will these heart-wrenching incidents lead to better support for these vital workers? Only time will tell.