- By Kamakshi Bishnoi
- Tue, 03 Mar 2026 03:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
In a tragic incident, a Momo seller allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after his name was deleted from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal.
The deceased has been identified as Gouranga De, a resident of Ward No. 11 in Jalpaiguri town. He lived in a rented house with his family and is survived by his wife and son.
According to family members, De had been voting for nearly 40 years. However, his name was reportedly not found in the 2002 voter list. During the recent SIR process, he was called for a hearing and submitted all available documents and information. Despite this, when the final voters’ list was published on February 27, his name was found to have been omitted, with “Deleted” marked next to it.
Family members and local sources said De had been deeply distressed since learning that his name had been removed from the voters’ list. "He was worried ever since his name was removed. He kept asking what would happen to him. The body was recovered this morning. Now what will happen to this family?" IANS quoted Gouranga’s landlord.
The deceased's wife told local reporters, "He had no parents or grandparents; therefore, he could not provide any further information. The other papers that were there were presented at the SIR hearing. But the name was removed from the list. Then today this incident happened."
Upon receiving information about the incident, Jalpaiguri Municipality Chairman Saikat Chatterjee reached the spot. He said De had approached him after discovering the omission, and he had assisted him in filling out Form 6 online.
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Saikat said, "It is a very sad incident. SIR is taking people's lives. It is taking away democratic rights. The Election Commission and the central government must take responsibility for this."
Police have recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem examination. An investigation into the incident is underway.