Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee(L), TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee at the residence of one Pradeep Kar, who allegedly died by suicide over fear and insecurity of NRC manufactured through the SIR exercise, in Panihati.
Kolkata: With another man in West Bengal dying by suicide, allegedly distressed by the possibility of being disenfranchised, the ruling Trinamool Congress has raised its pitch against the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in the state, accusing the Election Commission of triggering a fear psychosis at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Until the last drop of our blood, we will fight to protect the rights of the people and to defeat the nefarious agenda of the BJP and its allies to tear apart the social fabric of our nation,” the state’s chief minister and the TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee, posted on X on Thursday, vowing to resist any attempt to brand a legitimate citizen of the country as an “outsider”.
She posted on X after Kshitish Majumdar died by suicide at the residence of his daughter at Ilambazar in Birbhum late Wednesday. The police learnt from the family of the 95-year-old deceased that he had been distressed over the possibility of losing his right to vote after the SIR of the electoral rolls.
Majumdar is the second to die by suicide in West Bengal, allegedly over the fear of losing the right to vote or citizenship, after the EC on Monday announced the launch of the SIR in 12 states and Union Territories.
Earlier, 57-year-old Pradeep Kar had died by suicide at Panihati in North 24 Parganas late on Monday, leaving a suicide note blaming the National Register of Citizens for his death. He had been anxious about the prospects of the process to have an NRC prepared for West Bengal, just as it had happened in neighbouring Assam.
The TMC has been terming the SIR of the electoral rolls as a covert attempt to launch the process of preparing an NRC in West Bengal.
Besides, Khairul Sheikh, a resident of Jitpur in Dinhata in Cooch Behar, attempted suicide by consuming poison. He was also purportedly anxious over the possibility of his name being struck out of the electoral roll through the SIR. He was worried because his name had been wrongly recorded in the voter list in 2002, when the last intensive review of the electoral rolls had been conducted by the EC in West Bengal.
With the BJP, the principal challenger to the TMC in West Bengal, pinning its hope on the SIR of the electoral rolls to take on the ruling party in the 2026 state assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee’s party has weaponised the deaths of Kar and Majumdar and the attempted suicide by Khairul to protest against the process.
“Who will answer for these avoidable, politically inflicted tragedies? Will the Home Minister accept responsibility? Will the BJP and its allies, under whose watch this fear psychosis has spread, find the courage to speak out?” the TMC supremo wrote on X.
Mamata’s heir apparent and the TMC general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, visited the residence of Pradeep Kar on Wednesday. He slammed the BJP and the EC for his death. The TMC also launched a “Justice for Pradeep Kar” campaign and took out protest rallies on Wednesday and Thursday.
“For generations, the people of Bengal have lived with dignity. Today, they are being forced to ask whether they still belong to the land of their birth. This cruelty is unconscionable and must not be allowed to stand,” Mamata wrote on X. “I appeal to every citizen: Do not be provoked, do not lose faith, and do not take any extreme step. Our Maa-Mati-Manush Sarkar stands with you. We will not allow the NRC to be implemented in Bengal - neither through the front door, nor through the back door.”
“We will not permit a single legitimate citizen to be branded an ‘outsider’”, she added.
The BJP, however, cited the statement of one of Pradeep Kar’s relatives that he had lost four fingers of his right hand and claimed that he could not have written the suicide note. The party demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into his death. The saffron party also slammed Mamata and her TMC for trying to take political advantage of the deaths of Kar and Majumdar.