On December 16, 2025, Surya Dey, a Trinamool Congress councillor from Dankuni Municipality's Ward 18, shocked many by walking into a crematorium near Kolkata. He demanded that his last rites be performed, claiming the Election Commission of India (ECI) had listed him among the "dead" in the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal. Earlier that day, the ECI released a booth-wise list of deceased and migrated voters as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Mr. Dey told reporters, "Since the Commission has declared me dead, it should complete the process. Let the officials come and cremate me." He criticized the administrative mistake as serious. "I am an elected public representative. If I can be shown dead on paper while I am very much alive, imagine what can happen to ordinary voters," he said. He blamed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling it a "conspiracy" behind his deletion from the voter list. Surya Dey also said he had submitted all required forms and documents during the SIR enumeration drive but was still removed. "This is not a clerical error; this is dangerous," he added. The incident quickly gained attention on social media. TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty posted on Facebook: "Dankuni Municipality Ward 18 councillor Surya Dey... According to the voter list on Tuesday, he is dead. Is this SIR or a farce?" The ECI has not yet responded to this specific claim. The SIR exercise took place from November 4 to December 11, 2025. It deleted more than 58 lakh names due to death, migration, duplication, or not submitting forms. This cut the electoral roll in West Bengal from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore voters. The deletions affected many key Assembly areas and heightened political tensions ahead of the state election expected early next year. At the crematorium, Mr. Dey stressed, "I walked here myself. I am breathing, talking, protesting. If this is how voters are being treated, democracy itself is being taken to the pyre."