Caught Between SIR And LSG Polls, BLOs Bear The Brunt

Rema was visiting households in a remote Kannur village on Sunday when she heard about the death of a fellow Booth Level Officer. A Class Four government employee now serving as a BLO, she has been tense and overworked as she races to finish the mandated tasks within the stipulated timeline. “He may not have been able to withstand the pressure of the job. I don’t know if there’s anything more to it,” she says quietly.

Strike After Death

The death by suicide of Aneesh George, another BLO working in Kannur district, allegedly due to work pressure, has renewed demands for extending the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision. It has also drawn attention to the mounting stress faced by BLOs—many of whom are lower-rung government employees or school staff—who are struggling to cope with demanding fieldwork, long distances, and overlapping responsibilities. As the revision drive intensifies, their predicament has become a flashpoint in the growing debate over the Election Commission’s handling of the exercise.

There had been widespread complaints that BLOs were being pressured to complete their duties within a rigid timeframe, with little regard for the challenges on the ground. “Today, we are on strike, protesting and alleging that work pressure led to the death of Aneesh George. Ever since the news broke, no officer from the village office or the collectorate has contacted us—neither to enquire about the situation nor to push us to finish the task,” said Satheesh, a government employee serving as a BLO in central Kerala.

Aneesh George was found dead at his home in Ettukudukka, Kannur, on Sunday. His family has alleged that he had been under considerable stress to finish the revision work on schedule. Although the district collector has denied that any pressure was exerted on him, the Chief Electoral Officer has ordered an inquiry. Aneesh, a school office assistant by profession, had been deployed as the BLO for a booth in the Payyanur constituency.

Amid the grief and anger, political parties have seized the moment to escalate their attacks. The Congress has alleged that the CPI(M) had threatened Aneesh for allowing a Congress representative to accompany him during door-to-door voter verification. The Left has rejected the charge, accusing the Opposition of exploiting a tragedy for political mileage. Meanwhile, the incident has turned the spotlight firmly on the working conditions of BLOs, many of whom say they continue to operate under severe pressure, long hours, and insufficient institutional support.

EC adamant on Timeline

The SIR exercise in Kerala comes at a time when political parties are deeply engrossed in campaigning for the local body elections scheduled for December 9 and 11. Parties across the spectrum have urged the Election Commission to postpone the SIR until after December 13, the vote-counting day. Notably, even the BJP—often at odds with the ruling front and the Congress—has supported the call to defer SIR-related work during the campaign period.

“The political party representatives were helping us in the initial stages. But now that campaigning has begun, they are busy, leaving us in tremendous confusion,” says Rejina, an Anganwadi teacher currently deployed as a BLO in the Kochi Corporation area. “I have to distribute and then collect enumeration forms from 1,394 voters. I received the forms in three phases, which means I am compelled to visit some houses multiple times. If there are five or six voters in a single home, not all the forms were given to us at one go.”

With the deadline looming, BLOs in several regions have started organising local camps to distribute forms in bulk. “This is done so that we can finish distribution in at least one area at one go. But often, many voters don’t bother to turn up,” says another BLO, who prefers to remain anonymous.

Many BLOs working in urban pockets also complain of discrepancies in the instructions they receive from village offices and those from collectorates. “In their urge to show that a higher percentage of the electorate has been covered, officers ask us to submit data as though the work is completed, even when we haven’t been able to distribute the forms. This kind of sleight of hand isn’t possible when you’re the one knocking on doors,” says a BLO from Kochi city. “We are forced to lie just to help paint a rosy picture. They want us to officially report that forms have been distributed to certain voters, even when we haven’t been able to locate them.”

Confusion grips political parties

 The sudden push to complete the SIR while the state is preoccupied with campaigning for the local body polls has left political parties perplexed. Major parties—barring the BJP—have opposed the urgency with which the exercise is being carried out. The Kerala government approached the High Court seeking a deferment of the SIR until the local body elections are completed, but the court dismissed the plea, citing pending cases before the apex court.

The Congress, however, alleges that the government is not sincere in its efforts and has mishandled the issue from the outset. Both the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League have now moved the Supreme Court, challenging what they call the SIR's “hasty” conduct. Yet, even as the political fronts question the timing, their local units continue to cooperate with BLOs on the ground. “This is because we don’t want eligible voters to miss out,” said a Congress local leader in Ernakulam when asked about the apparent contradiction in the party’s stance.

As confusion persists even two weeks after the commencement of the SIR, the burden continues to fall squarely on the BLOs. The first phase — the distribution of forms — remains incomplete, and with the December 4 deadline approaching, the pressure is only expected to intensify. With local political leaders preoccupied with electioneering, BLOs' work has become even more exhausting. So far, the Election Commission appears to have given their plight only short shrift.