Five Election Duty Officials Die During Electoral Roll Revision Drive in Karnataka

Five officials deployed for the 49-day Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka died during the exercise, with family members and colleagues attributing their deaths to severe work pressure and demanding deadlines.

The deceased include four Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and one supervisor who were part of the 59,050 officials tasked with conducting house-to-house verification across the state. The door-to-door visits began on June 30 and were scheduled to conclude on August 17 following an extension by the Election Commission, which set October 1 as the qualifying date.

In Bengaluru, two officials lost their lives during the drive. Shamantha Kumari, an English teacher at a government primary school in Kurubarahalli, died of a heart attack on July 23 after falling ill while carrying out SIR duties in the rain. According to a colleague, Kumari had posted in a teachers' WhatsApp group three days prior about the severe strain caused by the exercise. In Bengaluru South Assembly constituency, Nataraj, who served as a BLO, died of a heart attack between the night of July 3 and early morning of July 4. His family noted that he had been working late into the night to meet assigned targets.

In Nelamangala, Bengaluru Rural district, Village Administrative Officer and BLO supervisor Bhuvana died in a road accident on July 3. She was hit by a truck on the Tumkur-Kunigal Highway around 7.35 am, shortly after reporting for duty, and succumbed to severe head injuries at a hospital later that evening. Her family stated that she had attended an offline review meeting until 8.30 pm the previous evening before leaving home at 6 am on the day of the incident.

Two other fatalities occurred in other districts. In Bhadravathi, Shimoga district, Anganwadi worker and BLO Manjula collapsed while on duty on July 6 and was declared brought dead at the taluk hospital. Her husband stated that she worked late hours and handled remote verification tasks even while attending personal events. In Bidar district, Sunil, a government school teacher in Amalapur, developed health complications during door-to-door verification on July 3 and died at a hospital later that day.

Multiple attempts to contact Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar regarding the deaths went unanswered.