‘Politics of fear’: Bengal man dies by suicide allegedly over NRC, Mamata blames BJP
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Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that a man in her state committed suicide leaving behind a note blaming the National Register of Citizens as responsible for his death, Scroll reported.
Identified as Pradeep Kar, the man was found dead at his home in Panihati in North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday.
Barrackpore Police Commissioner Muralidhar Sharma reportedly said that a diary entry, found in the diary recovered from the 57-year-old man’s house, said ‘NRC is responsible for my death.
It is reported citing Kar’s family that he was ‘restless’ after the Election Commission announced a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the state.
The death comes after the poll body announced voters’ revision in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal.
West Bengal is among the states heading to assembly elections in 2026.
Kar was born and raised in West Bengal but his father had migrated from Bangladesh
Responding to the suicide, Banerjee said that the BJP was spreading fear of the NRC adding that the man’s suicide pointed to ‘BJP’s politics of fear and division’.
‘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,’ she reportedly said , adding that ‘This tragic death is the direct consequence of BJP’s venomous propaganda.’
Urging the Centre to stop its ‘heartless game once and for all’, she said those sitting in Delhi preach nationalism pushing ordinary citizens to despair and death fearing they would be declared ‘foreigners’.
She added that ‘Bengal will never allow NRC, and never allow anyone to strip our people of their dignity or belonging.’
Also, Banerjee termed the special revision of voter rolls as an attempt to implement the National Register of Citizens in the state.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s social media cell chief Amit Malviya said that Mamata Banerjee was spreading panic for political gain.