West Bengal polls: Voter dies as ‘deleted’ hubby waits outside booth

MIDNAPORE: A 59-year-old woman from the Keshpur assembly segment in West Midnapore, whose four family members' names were deleted from the electoral rolls, died shortly after casting her vote on Thursday.

The incident has once again drawn attention to alleged irregularities following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the distress being faced by thousands of affected families across the state.





Isratan Bibi, a resident of Sarishakala Simageria in Keshpur, went to vote at Booth 225 at Digha Primary School, located around two km from her home. Shortly after casting her vote, she stepped out of the booth and suddenly fell ill, collapsing on the spot.

Locals rushed her to a nearby doctor, who declared her dead. Her body was later taken to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. Preliminary examination indicated that she died of a cardiac arrest.

Her family members said, Isratan Bibi was under a lot of stress of late over the deletion of the names of her four family members, including her husband, from the voter's list during the SIR process. She on numerous occasions told her husband and other relatives that she was afraid they would be either sent to detention camps or deported to some neighbouring country.

Her husband, Sheikh Nawabjan Ali, a daily wage labourer, said she was stressed and distracted lately due to the exclusion of the names of many family members from the electoral rolls. "Many of our family members were impacted by the SIR. Finally, out of 12 members in our household, four names were deleted after SIR. She was distressed that while she could vote, I and others could not. This was stressing her for the past few days," said Ali.

The names of her children were also deleted initially but were restored after the adjudication process.

"She was still under a lot of stress thinking her husband would be sent to a detention camp or deported to some neighbouring country," said Sheikh Fajlur Rahman, a relative.

On Thursday, Ali accompanied her to the polling station but returned home without casting his vote as his name was not on the rolls. "She spent the previous night in anxiety, fearing the implications of the deletions and worrying about our exclusion from the electoral rolls." The incident has led to a political slugfest between the BJP and the Trinamool.

The Trinamool Congress candidate Shiuli Saha alleged that the SIR process caused widespread anxiety and hardship, claiming that it has resulted in exclusion and distress among voters.

BJP candidate Shubhendu Samanta described the death of Isratan Bibi as "painful" but attributed it to illness. Police have initiated an inquiry. "She died of a cardiac arrest," said a doctor at the hospital.

CM Mamata Banerjee said, "Even today, a woman died in Keshpur. Despite all documents, her husband's and sons' names were not there."

Keshpur has a total of 268,034 voters of which 810 names have been deleted. The total number under adjudication is 8,198.
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