Kerala Booth Officers Boycott Voter Revision Work After Colleague’s Suicide Triggers Outrage

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala came to a standstill on Monday as booth-level officers (BLOs) across the state boycotted work following the death of one of their colleagues, allegedly driven by work-related stress. The deceased, 44-year-old Aneesh George from Payyannur in Kannur district, was found dead at his home on Sunday, sparking widespread anger and calls for accountability within the state bureaucracy.

Family members and local residents claimed George had been under intense pressure to complete tasks linked to the SIR exercise. “He did not even get time to eat or sleep properly. He was under severe strain to finish the assigned work,” said his brother-in-law Saiju, alleging that senior officials frequently contacted George for updates. Labour unions and teachers’ associations, including the Action Council of State Government Employees and the Joint Committee of Teacher Service Organisations, staged protests at district collectorates, demanding that the government ease BLO workloads and postpone the revision.

The Kerala NGO Association joined the demonstrations, warning that the mounting pressure could lead to more tragedies if the current SIR procedures continued unchanged. The Election Commission’s decision to conduct the voter list revision amid other administrative work has become a major flashpoint for state employees who say they are being forced to meet unrealistic targets. “A majority of BLOs are women and have to visit up to 1,200 households multiple times in short timeframes. The workload is unprecedented,” said one protester.

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The tragedy has also taken a political turn. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan alleged that CPI(M) workers had threatened George after he was seen accompanying a Congress booth agent during enumeration. “We have information that CPI(M) cadres intimidated him. Both the BJP and CPI(M) are allegedly trying to keep Congress voters off the rolls,” Satheesan claimed, urging a judicial investigation into the incident. The Congress has also announced that it will move the Supreme Court to challenge the ongoing SIR process.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Sunny Joseph cited a recorded conversation purportedly showing political intimidation against George. “He was threatened with a false complaint that he was distributing Congress pamphlets. This political harassment, along with work pressure, led to his death,” Joseph said. With the controversy intensifying, the Congress and government employees’ unions have called for the suspension of the SIR exercise until safety guidelines and fair workload frameworks are implemented.

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