TMC’s Abhishek meets family of man who killed self over ‘fear for NRC’

Kolkata: TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday visited the family of Pradeep Kar in West Bengal's Panihati, a day after the 57-year-old man allegedly died by suicide, leaving behind a note blaming anxiety over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for his decision. Banerjee, the TMC's de facto number two, was accompanied by party MP Partha Bhowmick and its chief whip in the West Bengal assembly, Nirmal Ghosh, and youth leader Debraj Chakraborty, as he met Kar's family members and expressed condolences. The TMC leader intensified his attack on the BJP and the Election Commission over the incident. On Tuesday, he had squarely blamed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for the death. "Pradeep Kar died due to anxiety over NRC and SIR. FIR should be filed against Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar," Banerjee demanded, alleging that the Centre and the EC were attempting to exclude genuine voters under the guise of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday held the BJP responsible, accusing it of spreading fear and "weaponising NRC" to intimidate the poor and vulnerable. "They want to create panic so that people lose their rights," she alleged. The BJP, meanwhile, hit back and urged political parties not to rush to conclusions. The reason behind the death, it said, "must be determined only by investigating agencies and not through political rhetoric". The incident has intensified the political slugfest in Bengal, with the ruling TMC alleging a "plot to select who will vote" and the BJP insisting that the SIR is a routine electoral exercise.