A 75-year-old man passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest while attending a hearing related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal's Birbhum district. The incident occurred on Saturday morning, January 11, 2026, and has sparked allegations of administrative stress leading to the tragedy.
Details of the Tragic Incident
The deceased has been identified as Kanchan Kumar Mondal. He had received a notice for the SIR hearing and, accompanied by his wife, arrived at the Rampurhat-1 Block Office with all the necessary documents. According to local accounts, Mondal was waiting in a lengthy queue outside the Block Development Officer's (BDO) office when he suddenly collapsed.
Bystanders immediately rushed to his aid and called for medical assistance. Due to an apparent delay in the arrival of an ambulance, the BDO offered his official vehicle to transport the ailing man. Mondal was rushed to the Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital, where attending doctors declared him dead on arrival. Hospital sources confirmed the cause of death as a cardiac arrest.
Allegations of Stress and Political Blame Game
Mondal's wife and family members have squarely blamed the circumstances of the SIR process for his death. They allege that the excessive stress and anxiety associated with the hearing directly led to his fatal cardiac episode. The grieving family holds the Election Commission of India (ECI) responsible for the tragedy.
This allegation found a political echo as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) also criticized the process. TMC MLA Asish Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led central government over the SIR drive, linking it to voter name deletions. "People are being targeted for speaking Bengali," Banerjee claimed, referencing other controversial cases.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swiftly rebutted the charges. Uday Shankar Banerjee, the BJP's Birbhum district president, defended the ECI's autonomy, stating, "It really does not matter what the TMC says as the ECI is an independent agency and they are doing their job."
A Disturbing Pattern Emerges
This incident in Birbhum is not isolated. A strikingly similar tragedy occurred just a day earlier, on Friday, January 10, 2026, in Howrah district. An elderly man named Madan Ghosh also died due to a cardiac arrest while attending an SIR-related hearing at the Bally Jagacha Block Office in Domjur.
The back-to-back fatalities have raised serious questions about the conduct of the SIR process, particularly regarding the arrangements for elderly citizens, long waiting times, and the overall environment at hearing centers. These events have intensified the ongoing political debate in West Bengal surrounding the electoral revision exercise.
