Jalpaiguri: A 62-year-old man from Jalpaiguri allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday, with the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) claiming that the incident was linked to the deletion of his name from the ‘final’ voters’ list following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The deceased has been identified as Gouranga De (62), a resident of Ward No. 11 of Jalpaiguri Municipality who had been living in a rented house in the Nayabasti area under Ward No. 10. He ran a small fast-food stall in the town and sold momos for a living.
According to the family members, De had been under severe mental stress after the ‘final’ SIR list, which was published on February 28, showed the word ‘Deleted’ next to his name. Since then, he had been repeatedly expressing fear that despite voting for decades, he might be declared a non-citizen and sent to Bangladesh.
Jalpaiguri Municipality Chairman Saikat Chatterjee, who visited the family after the incident, said De had approached him earlier regarding the issue. “He had come to me after his name was not found in the final list. He was living in constant fear that he might be sent to Bangladesh. I even helped him fill out Form 6. Despite that, he took such a drastic decision,” Chatterjee said.
Speaking about the incident, De’s wife Popi De said that they had visited the District Magistrate’s office on Tuesday and submitted all the necessary documents. “Even after that, his fear did not go away. On Wednesday morning, when he did not come out of the room, I went inside and found him hanging. He had mentally broken down after the SIR list was published,” she said.
Meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress has strongly condemned the incident and expressed solidarity with the bereaved family.
In a post on its official X handle, the party alleged that the deletion of the voter’s name had pushed the man into distress and accused the BJP and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise marginalised voters. The party also assured that it would stand by the victim’s family.