Two BLOs die in Gujarat; one by suicide

Gandhinagar: Two booth -level officers in Gujarat, both school teachers, have died amid what colleagues describe as intense pressure linked to the special intensive revision of the electoral roll. One officer died by suicide, while the other suffered a fatal heart attack.

Aravind Vadhari (40), a BLO from Char village in Gir Somnath district, was found dead at his home on Friday. A suicide note recovered from the room said he had been “extremely exhausted and unwell” for several days. Family members said election officials had been pushing him to complete 95 per cent of the revision work by Monday.

In Kheda district, Rameshbhai Parmar, a BLO from Kapadvanj Navapura, died of a heart attack on Thursday. Relatives said he had been unable to bear the pressure to finish the SIR, adding that officers had received warnings to speed up the process.

According to reports, six BLOs across states have died under similar strain linked to the allegedly unscientific rollout of the SIR. Officers in Kerala and Rajasthan died by suicide, while in West Bengal one BLO collapsed and died.