‘How many more lives will be lost because of SIR’: Mamata Banerjee on Bengal booth officer’s suicide
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee, on Saturday, criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the suicide of Rinku Tarafdar (51), a booth-level officer (BLO) from Nadia district earlier in the day for reportedly being unable to handle the work pressure related to the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) in the state, the first phase of which started on November 4.
On Saturday afternoon, the Chief Minister issued a social media statement claiming that she was shocked to know about the death of Tarafdar.
“Profoundly shocked to know of the death of yet another BLO, a woman para-teacher, who has committed suicide at Krishnanagar today. BLO of part number 201 of Assembly constituency 82 Chapra, Rinku Tarafdar, has blamed the ECI in her suicide note before committing suicide at her residence today,” Chief Minister Banerjee’s said in a post on X.
Thereafter, The Chief Minister asked that how many more lives in West Bengal would be lost because of the SIR.
“How many more lives will be lost? How many more need to die for this SIR? How many more dead bodies shall we see for this process? This has become truly alarming now!!” she said in the X post.
In her suicide note, Tarafdar had reportedly expressed her anxiety that administrative pressure would come to her if she did not complete the work of a BLO.
“I can’t handle the pressure,” the female BLO allegedly wrote in the suicide letter, according to the police.
She had also blamed the ECI for her death.
At the same time, Tarafdar wrote that no one in her family was responsible for her death.
This is the second report of SIR-related suicide in West Bengal during the current week.
On Wednesday, another female BLO identified as Shanti Muni Ekka died by “suicide” due to alleged work pressure during the SIR exercise in the state.
The incident took place in the Mal Bazar area in Jalpaiguri.
The family of the woman alleged that she decided to end her life as she could not bear the pressure of SIR work.
After Ekka’s death, the Chief Minister issued a similar social media statement lambasting the ECI for the suicide.
The Chief Minister also wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, demanding that the SIR exercise in West Bengal should be put on hold immediately.