Kolkata, Apr 13 (PTI) Six residents of Arambagh in West Bengal’s Hooghly district made a plea for death to President Droupadi Murmu on Monday, after their names were reportedly deleted from the electoral rolls following the SIR exercise, a senior official said.
They submitted an application to Murmu through a poll official, who is also the SDO of Arambagh.
The applicants, including a retired government school teacher, visited the SDO office and submitted their plea along with supporting documents, he said.
“All the six are residents of Ward No. 6 of Arambagh Municipality, where a total of 206 names were reportedly struck off from the list,” the poll official said.
Among the applicants is Taibunnesa Begum, who had served as headmistress of Gochar Bhagwati Girls School, Goghat, for around 20 years, he said.
She claimed that her name was deleted from the list despite possessing pension papers and other official documents, including a passport, according to the official.
“We have submitted an application for voluntary death, as we cannot bear this suffering anymore,” Taibunnesa said, standing outside the SDO office.
The applicants were accompanied by local councillor Swapan Nandi.
Taibunnesa expressed apprehension that they would be sent to detention camps as their names were “deleted” from the voters’ list, following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“We would rather seek death than face detention,” she said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been criticising the BJP over the SIR, had recently asserted at a poll rally that there will be no detention camp in Bengal.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases – on April 23 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4. PTI SCH RBT
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