Declared ‘dead’ in draft rolls, TMC councillor stages stir at crematorium

Kolkata: A Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor from West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Tuesday staged a dramatic protest after allegedly being listed as “dead” in the draft electoral rolls released following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Surya Dey, councillor of Dankuni Municipality’s Ward 18, walked into the Kalipur crematorium near Kolkata and demanded that his last rites be performed, claiming the Election Commission had officially declared him deceased. A booth-wise list of deceased and migrated voters was published earlier in the day along with the draft rolls.

“Since the Commission has declared me dead, it should complete the process,” Dey told reporters, alleging a serious administrative lapse.

He said he had duly submitted his enumeration form and documents to the booth-level officer during the SIR drive.

Calling the episode “dangerous,” Dey said if an elected representative could be shown dead on paper, ordinary voters were even more vulnerable.

He held the Chief Election Commissioner responsible and alleged a conspiracy behind the deletion of his name.