TMC's Abhishek attacks PM Modi, links spate of deaths to Bengal SIR

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the BJP-led Centre of using the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal to “intimidate and disenfranchise” ordinary voters — even as yet another alleged suicide linked to fear of the exercise was reported from Howrah district.

According to police, Zaheer Mal, a 28-year-old daily wage labourer from the Khalisani gram panchayat area under Uluberia Purba Assembly segment, was found hanging at his home on Tuesday morning, the same day the SIR officially began across the state. No suicide note was recovered, but his family claimed he had been “terrified” that he would be branded a Bangladeshi and lose his citizenship.

“He was terrified of SIR. He always said he would be sent to Bangladesh. This fear had been working in his mind for the last few days. He committed suicide out of fear,” said his wife, Regina Bibi.

Police said the man worked as a contract labourer. His death has triggered fresh political outrage over the contentious voter verification drive, which has already drawn sharp criticism from the ruling TMC.

A TMC delegation led by senior minister Pulak Roy visited the bereaved family in Uluberia on Abhishek's instructions. “Our party stands by this family. An atmosphere of fear has been created in the state in the name of conducting SIR. It is being conveyed that speaking in Bengali means being a Bangladeshi. I will tell the Central government to stop the politics of death,” Roy said.

Speaking later at a massive rally in central Kolkata led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek alleged that the SIR had caused widespread panic, leading to several deaths.

“In the last seven days, we have lost seven lives due to the fear of SIR in Bengal. All of them were eligible voters. Their family members are present here with us today,” he said, accusing the prime minister of “dictating terms to common people as per his whims and fancies”.

“Be it demonetisation or furnishing documents of citizenship, Modi has always tried to impose his diktats on the poor and middle class. We won’t bow down to the zamindars of Delhi,” Abhishek declared, drawing cheers from the crowd.

He went on to issue an open call for a mass protest in the national capital, saying the TMC would “take the fight to Delhi” if the Centre failed to act responsibly. “If this continues, we will take lakhs of people to Delhi. We will hit the streets there to show them the strength of Bengal,” Abhishek warned, to thunderous applause.

The rally — which began from the B.R. Ambedkar statue on Kolkata's Red Road — was one of the largest public demonstrations yet against what the TMC calls “Silent Invisible Rigging” through the SIR process.

Pattern of suicides across districts

Tuesday’s death in Uluberia adds to a growing list of alleged suicides linked to SIR-related panic reported from several parts of West Bengal over the past week.

On 28 October, Pradeep Kar, a resident of Panihati in North 24 Parganas, was found dead, reportedly leaving behind a note expressing fear that his name might be deleted from the voter list.

Two days later, on 30 October, Kshitish Majumdar, a 95-year-old man from West Midnapore, allegedly took his life after discovering that his name did not appear in the 2002 electoral roll. In Cooch Behar, Khairul Sheikh survived a suicide attempt after consuming poison, allegedly for the same reason.

More recently, Sheikh Sirajuddin, a hotel owner from Digha in East Midnapore, died on 2 November after reportedly becoming anxious about errors in his family records. His family said he suffered a fatal heart attack after days of stress. The same day, Bimal Santra, a migrant worker from East Burdwan, was reported dead in Tamil Nadu, with relatives claiming he collapsed after hearing about the SIR exercise back home.

In another case, Hasina Beg, a 60-year-old woman from Dankuni in Hooghly district, died on Monday after allegedly falling ill on learning that her name was missing from the 2002 voter list.

Political blame game escalates

The BJP, however, has dismissed the TMC’s allegations as an attempt to “politicise tragedy”.

“They are misleading the common people. People are unnecessarily afraid. The Mamata Banerjee–Abhishek Banerjee party is trying to fulfil its political interests by threatening people over the SIR,” Union minister of state for education and DoNER Sukanta Majumdar said.

The SIR, ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI), involves over 80,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) conducting a door-to-door enumeration of voters until 4 December. The ECI has described it as a routine and transparent revision ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

However, opposition parties — particularly the TMC — have accused the central government of using the exercise to “sow fear among Bengali-speaking citizens”, drawing parallels with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

As political tempers rise, the series of alleged SIR-related deaths has deepened anxiety across several districts. For the ruling TMC, the incidents have become both a humanitarian and political rallying point; for the BJP, they reflect what it calls “deliberate misinformation” spread by the state government.

For now, Abhishek Banerjee’s warning in Kolkata sums up the sharpening confrontation: “If we can arrange such a huge gathering in two days, the BJP must think what our turnout will be when we go to Delhi.”

With agency inputs