Name of state’s 1st SIR suicide voter’s kin appears on draft list
Times of India | 30 December 2025
Midnapore: A 95-year-old Midnapore resident, Kshitish Majumdar, died by suicide at his daughter's Birbhum home on Oct 30, the first death blamed on the SIR. His name figures on draft SIR list as a dead voter. His grandson, who now stays in Kshitish's Midnapore home, has his name on the draft roll and, till now, has not received any hearing notice.
After his grandfather's death, 23-year-old Pradip lived alone at home. He said apart from a SIR form in his name, forms came in names of his grandfather and mother, too, and all were filled out and submitted. The information about deaths of his grandfather and mother was provided, and they were listed as deceased in the published draft.
Pradip's name appears at serial number 441 in booth 152. Kshitish died the very next day after the EC announced the SIR rollout in Bengal. He migrated to India from Bangladesh's Barisal 40 years ago. His kin alleged he was scared of "being pushed back to Bangladesh or sent to detention camps" at this advanced age, as his name was not on the 2002 SIR list.
However, Kshitish's fears were not completely unfounded. In the Tolapara locality in Midnapore's ward 1, where he lived, about 100 families from booths 152, 153, and 154 received hearing letters from the SIR. Upon receiving the letters, they became worried as they are all Bangladeshis and lack any local documents. They fled from Bangladesh during the riots and took refuge in Midnapore town. Some lived there for 15 years, others for 20. They possess voter ID and Aadhaar cards, and thus received hearing notices from the EC.
Upon receiving the notices, they fell silent with fear. Some said they had nowhere else to go and requested the govt to arrange for their stay. SDO Madhumita Mukherjee said notices were sent to those families. If they cannot provide documents, their names will not be on the voter list as per the EC rules, she added.