Booth level officers (BLO) verify voters list at a SIR help desk in Kochi recently.
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Booth level officers (BLO) under the banner of Left and Congress-led service organisations in Kerala on Monday (November 17, 2025) staged large-scale protests over the death of Payyannur BLO Aneesh George, demanding that the Election Commission of India (ECI) defer the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) until after the local body elections are over in the State.
Following George’s death, service organisations had announced that BLOs would boycott SIR work on Monday.
Marches taken out to the office of Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan Kelkar were blocked by the police outside the Kerala Legislative Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram. The Action Council of State Government Employees’ and Teachers and the action council representing the service organisations of teachers, the Kerala NGO Association and the Secretariat Action Council took out separate marches to the State Assembly complex where the CEO has his office.
Protests were also held in various districts outside the offices of Returning Officers.
At a press conference ahead of the protest in Thiruvananthapuram, the Joint Council of State Service Organisations slammed the ECI decision to go ahead with the SIR in Kerala ignoring demands for its postponement. Joint council leaders also accused the CEO and the Kannur District Collector of “parading misleading information” with respect to the death of George and the data on the distribution of enumeration forms.
Claims challenged
Council leaders challenged the claim of Mr. Kelkar’s office that 94.5% of the forms have been distributed.
Terming the figure baseless, joint council general secretary K.P. Gopakumar said BLOs were being forced to upload false data stating that they have distributed the forms. Joint council leaders refuted the Kannur District Collector’s claim that George had only 50 more forms left to distribute.
To bolster their claim, joint council leaders also released a notice purportedly issued by the Electoral Registration Officer, Nenmara and Alathur, instructing BLOs to ensure 100% distribution by November 15 or face punitive action under the Representation of People Act.
“We are not saying that the SIR should not be conducted in the State. All we are asking for is more time for the BLOs. It is humanly impossible for them to visit houses and distribute the forms within the timeframe set by the commission. They are burdened with double duty related to the SIR and the local body elections,” Mr. Gopakumar said.
Mr. Gopakumar said they had written a letter to Mr. Kelkar on November 5 requesting him to halt the SIR till the local body elections are over. “In his reply on November 13, he had explained his helplessness in the matter stating that the decision rested with the ECI. On November 15, we wrote a letter to the ECI requesting it to postpone the SIR for the time being,” he said.
Published – November 17, 2025 03:26 pm IST
