KOLKATA: Two persons died by suicide in separate incidents in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri and South 24 Parganas districts due to “mental stress” after publication of the final post Special Intensive Revision (SIR) list of electoral rolls in the state.
Rafiq Ali Gazi (44) was found hanging in his room in the Ghola Nayapara area under Usti police station in South 24 Parganas district on Tuesday night, a senior police officer said on Wednesday morning.
Gazi’s name was found in the “under adjudication” category in the post SIR electoral rolls published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 28 February, he said.
Rafiq, a 44-year-old trolley van puller by profession, was psychologically upset after he could not find his name in the list.
Family members of the deceased said his name did not figure in the list though he had submitted all documents required for the SIR exercise during submission of the enumeration form. He had cast his votes in previous elections, they claimed.
Local Trinamool Congress leaders in the Mograhat Paschim Assembly area withheld the body and blocked the Usti Sirakol Road to protest against the incident.
Amina Bibi, wife of the deceased, lodged a complaint against the national poll body with Usti police station on Wednesday.
In another incident, Gouranga De (62), a resident of Jalpaiguri town in north Bengal, died by suicide at his residence on Tuesday.
His relatives said he had been suffering from depression since his name was deleted from the SIR list. He was a fast food seller at Nayabasti under municipal ward number 10.
The ECI on 28 February published the final post SIR list deleting names of 63.66 lakh voters, including more than 58 lakh absentees, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) electors during the first phase of the SIR exercise, and another 5 lakh after completion of the SIR hearings, prompting the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee to intensify its protest against the removal of such a massive number of electors.
Besides the 63.66 lakh deleted voters, more than 60 lakh electors belonging to the logical discrepancies and unmapped categories have been marked as “under adjudication” in the final list. They are awaiting clearance from judicial officers to retain their voting rights.
Following the Supreme Court’s intervention, judicial officers were tasked with deciding their fate. The 60 lakh voters, including state Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, minister Tajmul Hossain and party MLA Rafiqur Rahaman, were listed in the “under adjudication” group.