Mamata Refuses to Fill Voter Form Until All Do

Kolkata, Berhampore: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared on Thursday that she would not fill out the enumeration form delivered by the Booth Level Officer (BLO) to her residence for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list until all other citizens have done so.

In a Facebook post, she wrote, “Yesterday, the concerned BLO came to our locality for specific work. He delivered forms at my residence after asking about the number of voters at my residence-cum-office. Until each and every individual in Bengal fills up their forms, I did not and will not fill up mine.”

The Chief Minister further said, “Different media outlets and newspapers have reported that I came out of my house and received the enumeration form from the BLO in my own hands. This news is totally false, misleading, and part of a vindictive campaign.”

Meanwhile, three deaths were reported in Murshidabad district allegedly linked to fear surrounding the SIR process.

In the afternoon, a hawker, Tarak Saha, 54, was found hanging from a tree in the courtyard of his house in Gandhi Colony, Berhampore. Saha, who sold masala muri for a living, had been distressed about the voter verification exercise.

His wife, Priya Saha, said, “I work as a domestic help. My husband was depressed as our names were not found in the 2002 SIR list. He was panicked about being deported to Bangladesh.”

In Nowda, a migrant worker, Israel Mollah, 65, died of a heart attack at his home in Chatumara village after his son informed him that the names of all 18 family members were missing from the previous SIR list.

In Lalbag, Jiten Roy, 57, died of a panic attack on Wednesday at his home in Masjidpara after discovering that his name did not appear in the 2002 SIR list. According to his son, Joydeb, Roy, who was born in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, had no birth certificate and had grown increasingly anxious about possible deportation.