AAP MP Sanjay Singh: Due To Workload, And Fear Of Suspension, 16 BLOs Have Died In Just 19 Days

New Delhi: Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and MP Sanjay Singh on Monday filed a notice in the Rajya Sabha demanding a discussion on the scams being carried out in the name of SIR and the continued deaths of BLOs across the country.

What Sanjay Singh said about SIR?

He stated that 16 BLOs conducting SIRs have died in just 19 days due to workload, mental stress, and fear of suspension. SIRs require new documents from existing voters, which are extremely difficult for the average person to obtain. The haste to conduct SIRs in 12 states without correcting these deficiencies has increased the risk of widespread disenfranchisement. He appealed to the Rajya Sabha to immediately halt SIRs, restore the voter lists, and hold the Election Commission accountable.

What are Sanjay Singh's demand?  

Sanjay Singh has filed this notice under Rule 267 (Notice of Motion for Suspension of Rules) of the Rajya Sabha Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. He seeks a discussion in the House regarding the arbitrary cancellation of voters' votes, deaths of BLOs, the threat of disenfranchisement, and the serious threat to Articles 14, 21, and 326.

In the notice, he stated that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being conducted by the Election Commission of India has created a nationwide crisis of electoral fairness. This process, intended to update and purify the voter list, has instead resulted in large-scale arbitrary deletions, gross violations of procedure, and widespread human suffering. It also poses a serious threat to free and fair elections.

What Sanjay Singh said about Bihar Elections and SIR?

Sanjay Singh stated that the SIR has led to unprecedented and unfair deletions in Bihar, where 6.5 million voters were deleted without proper verification. In many assembly constituencies, the number of deletions exceeds the previous victory margin. This raises fears of targeting migrants, women, minorities, and vulnerable groups and disenfranchising them. The lack of a meaningful appeal mechanism and the opaque deletion process demonstrate a complete failure of due process and transparency.

Sanjay Singh stated that the SIR has created unbearable pressure on booth-level officers (BLOs), creating a humanitarian crisis. Within just 19 days (by the end of November 2025), at least 16 BLOs have died, including suicides.

Reports indicate that the reasons for this are inhumane workloads, mental stress, sleepless nights, unsafe field conditions, and fear of punitive action regarding performance (ranking). Frequent app failures, unrealistic targets, and threats of suspension have pushed ground-level employees into a dangerous working environment.

What Sanjay Singh said about the deadline imposed by the Election Commission?

Sanjay Singh stated that the deadline imposed by the Election Commission is arbitrary and impractical. The second phase of SIR verification is to be completed by December 4, 2025, leaving barely a month for door-to-door verification, form processing, and digitization. In contrast, in 2003, the Election Commission completed the voter list revision in six to eight months (approximately 243 days), allowing ample time for verification, corrections, and verification. In stark contrast, the 2025 SIR is completing the entire process, including door-to-door verification, document verification, and publication of the final list, in just 97 days.

Sanjay Singh stated that the 2003 guidelines considered the existing voter list and voter ID cards as primary evidence and assumed that registered voters were valid. The 2025 SIR reverses this principle and demands new documents from existing voters, which are difficult for ordinary citizens to obtain.

Sanjay Singh stated that the Honorable Supreme Court has also expressed serious concern about the documentation burden imposed by the SIR. During the hearing, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia remarked, "How can you expect everyone to produce all the documents in this document-starved country? I don't even have a birth certificate." This demonstrates that the very basis of the 2025 SIR process is unrealistic and aims to exclude people from the voter list, potentially leading to widespread disenfranchisement.

What Sanjay Singh said about second phase of SIR?

Sanjay Singh said that despite these serious failures in Bihar, the Election Commission has expanded the second phase of the SIR to 12 states, 321 districts, and 510 million voters from November 19, 2025, ahead of the key 2026 elections. This hasty and uncorrected expansion dramatically increases the risk of widespread disenfranchisement across the country and jeopardizes the credibility of the electoral process.

Sanjay Singh stated that this threatens the right to vote under Article 326, equality before the law (Article 14), and free and fair elections (Article 21). Therefore, immediate parliamentary intervention is sought to stop the SIR, restore the electoral rolls, and hold the Election Commission accountable. Sanjay Singh requested the Rajya Sabha Secretary General to suspend all business of the House under Rule 267 and urgently discuss this vital national issue.