Mamata Banerjee claims man died by suicide over NRC fear amid SIR drive, BJP fires back

Mamata on Tuesday claimed 57-year-old Pradeep Kar, a resident of Panihati, took his life leaving a suicide note where he had written "NRC is responsibile for my death".

The Chief Minister wrote on X, "It shakes me to the very core to imagine how, for years, BJP has tormented innocent citizens with the threat of NRC, spreading lies, stoking panic and weaponising insecurity for votes. They have turned constitutional democracy into a draconian law-regime, where people are made to doubt their own right to exist.

"This tragic death is the direct consequence of BJP’s venomous propaganda. Those who sit in Delhi and preach nationalism have pushed ordinary Indians to such despair that they are dying in their own land, fearing they will be declared ‘FOREIGNERS’."

Mamata asserted her state government allow any person to be stripped of her citizenship.

"I demand that the Central Government stop this heartless game once and for all. Bengal will never allow NRC, and never allow anyone to strip our people of their dignity or belonging.

"Our soil belongs to Maa, Mati, Manush, not to those who thrive on hate. Let the Delhi Zamindars hear this loud and clear: Bengal will resist, Bengal will protect and Bengal will prevail," she said.

Hitting back at Mamata, the BJP said, "The tragic death of Pradeep Kar must be investigated thoroughly — the cause of suicide can and must be determined only by the law and investigating agencies, not through political rhetoric.

"Let’s also get the facts right — there is NO NRC anywhere in the country. Mamata Banerjee is lying and deliberately spreading panic to stoke fear among people for political gain."

He added, "It was the TMC, not the BJP, that weaponised fear — exploiting the anxieties of poor Hindu refugees who fled religious persecution and sought shelter in India. The same fear was used to loot, assault, and suppress voices, as seen in Sandeshkhali and during the riots in Malda and Murshidabad.

"Mamata Banerjee knows that a proper Special Investigation Report (SIR) will expose the rot in her administration and mark the beginning of her political downfall. The SIR will also ensure that illegal infiltrators, who double up as TMC’s votebank, are IDENTIFIED and DELETED from the voter list. That’s why she’s resorting to lies and theatrics once again. Truth and accountability will prevail — not fearmongering."

India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday said the second phase of the SIR for electoral rolls will be held across 12 states and UTs, including West Bengal, from Tuesday.

Kumar was quoted as saying by the media, "The voter list of all those states where SIR will be done will be frozen at 12 am tonight."

He further said, "All voters on that list will be given Unique Enumeration Forms by the BLOs. These Enumeration Forms will have all the necessary details from the current voter list."

Though Mamata had initially thundered that she won't allow SIR to be held in the state, later she toned down and said her party won't allow any genuine citizen to be deprived of his/her voting rights.

Speaking to Aaj Tak, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reacted to Mamata's claim that people would come out on streets to protest against SIR and said, "The same was said during the Bihar SIR. What has happened? Everybody filled the forms. The elections will be held in Bihar as well as in West Bengal."

Addressing a press conference a day after SIR for 12 states including West Bengal was announced, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday trained his guns at the ECI accusing the poll body of acting as an extended arm of the BJP, which runs the Centre and desperately wants to oust the TMC regime in the eastern state.

"Gyanesh Kumar is a man on a mission and this (backdoor NRC through SIR) is his mission. This is exactly why he has been sent as the Chief Election Commissioner. He was earlier with Mr Shah, who is now the Home Minister and Cooperation Minister, and has worked as a Cooperative Secretary," said Abhishek, who is the second most important member of the TMC after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"After losing in 2021, they are using the decision-making bodies, central agencies, from the back door to control Bengal. Now similarly, they are using SIR to introduce a backdoor NRC," he added.

"Our party’s stand on this has always been clear, that SIR’s intention is not really a revision but an exclusion on how to remove voters from the voter list and take away their rights, and deprive people of their fundamental rights is their only aim," the TMC leader added.

Abhishek has threatened to gherao the ECI office in Delhi with one lakh people if one genuine voter is deleted from the final voter list after the conclusion of the drive.