A tragic sequence of events has unfolded in West Bengal, where two elderly voters died by suicide after receiving hearing notices from the Election Commission of India (ECI) related to their voter registration status. The incidents, occurring in Purulia and East Midnapore districts, have sparked allegations of administrative failure and highlighted the human cost of technical errors in the electoral process.
Purulia Tragedy: Family Blames Election Officials
In a distressing development from Purulia, the son of 82-year-old Durjan Majhi has filed a formal police complaint, holding top election officials responsible for his father's death. Kanai Majhi, in his complaint lodged at the Para police station on Tuesday, named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, and other EC officials, accusing them of abetting the suicide.
The complaint states that while Durjan Majhi's name was present on the physical electoral roll from 2002, it was missing from the digital version uploaded on the Election Commission's official website. This discrepancy led to the elderly man receiving a hearing notice for the Summary Revision of Rolls (SIR).
Hours before his scheduled hearing, the 82-year-old tragically jumped in front of a moving train. His son alleges that the mental anguish caused by the notice and the fear of losing his voting rights directly led to this extreme step.
East Midnapore: Retired Employee Found Hanging
In a parallel and equally heartbreaking incident in Ramnagar, East Midnapore, 75-year-old Bimal Shee, a retired central government employee, was found dead by suicide on Tuesday. Shee was discovered hanging in the attic of his house after reportedly being distraught over receiving a similar hearing notice from the Election Commission.
His son, Deepak Shee, explained that his father's name did not appear in the 2002 SIR rolls because he was posted in Kolkata at that time. "My father moved back to Ramnagar permanently after 2002 and had been voting regularly since then," Deepak said. He described his father's final days as filled with anxiety and confusion.
"All documents were at home but he was inconsolable. He spent the last four days frantically sifting through papers, terrified that something was wrong. We never imagined he would take such a step," the grieving son added, painting a picture of a man overwhelmed by bureaucratic fear.
EC's Notification and the Larger Technical Glitch
These tragedies occur against the backdrop of a known technical issue acknowledged by the Election Commission. In a notification dated December 27, the EC stated that approximately 1.3 lakh voters across the state were affected by a glitch. Their names were present on the physical 2002 SIR rolls but were missing from the online database.
The EC had explicitly stated that these affected voters would not need to appear for any hearings. However, the communication of this crucial clarification seemingly failed to reach the vulnerable individuals on the ground, like Durjan Majhi and Bimal Shee, who proceeded to receive the intimidating hearing notices.
The gap between the EC's administrative order and its implementation at the grassroots level has now had fatal consequences, raising serious questions about the sensitivity and efficacy of voter list revision processes, especially when dealing with elderly citizens.
These incidents underscore the profound importance many Indian voters, particularly from older generations, attach to their franchise. The fear of being disenfranchised, compounded by the stress of navigating complex bureaucratic procedures, appears to have had devastating effects in these cases, calling for urgent review and humane handling of electoral roll updates.
