Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has accused the BJP and the Election Commission of India (ECI) of creating panic that allegedly led to the suicide of a 57-year-old man near Kolkata. Banerjee, who visited the bereaved family in Panihati, claimed that fear caused by the recently launched Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls drove the man to take his life.
Addressing supporters, Banerjee alleged that the anxiety over document verification during the SIR was “a deliberate attempt” by the BJP and the EC to create an atmosphere similar to the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The TMC general secretary, who is also Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, went on to tell people to “tie up local BJP leaders” if they demanded their parents’ birth certificates, saying, “Don’t hit them, just tie them up until they produce their own documents.”
The Election Commission began the SIR on October 28 across 12 states, including West Bengal, ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. While the BJP supports the exercise as a standard electoral roll verification process, Opposition parties have termed it “NRC in disguise,” claiming it targets minorities and poor citizens who may lack proper documents.
The BJP dismissed Banerjee’s allegations as baseless and accused the TMC of politicizing a personal tragedy. Party leaders said the cause of death should be determined by investigators, not political figures. The EC, meanwhile, reiterated its independence and commitment to maintaining accurate voter rolls.
The controversy has revived Bengal’s volatile citizenship debate tied to the NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019. Critics argue that while the CAA offers legal protection to non-Muslim migrants, Muslims and economically weaker groups could be left stateless if they fail to furnish proof of citizenship.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also accused the BJP of “weaponising the NRC” and spreading fear ahead of elections. With Assembly polls due by March 2026, the issue has once again become a flashpoint in Bengal’s charged political landscape.
