West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday launched a blistering attack on the Election Commission following a nearly 90-minute meeting.
With Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging large-scale deletion of voters’ names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and accusing the poll panel of acting at the behest of the BJP.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Banerjee claimed voters’ names were being struck off over minor spelling variations and title changes common in Bengal. “They first removed people’s names. The Election Commissioner is the BJP’s IT cell. You say this is a democracy?” she said.
She alleged that names were being deleted due to differences such as Banerjee and Bandyopadhyay, Mukherjee and Mukhopadhyay, or Chatterjee and Chattopadhyay. “In Bengal, surnames and titles change. They are cutting names and calling it an anomaly,” Banerjee said.
The chief minister claimed as many as 58 lakh voters had been removed from the electoral rolls without being given a hearing. “They didn’t even ask,” she said, alleging that booth-level officers (BLOs) were under pressure during the revision exercise.
Banerjee further alleged that Scheduled Castes and minorities were being disproportionately affected. “Why are SCs and minorities being targeted? Are they not human beings?” she asked.
‘Why no SIR in BJP-ruled Assam?’
Questioning the timing of the exercise, Banerjee asked why the revision was being conducted just ahead of elections. “Why the hurry before the polls? You should have left the states going to elections,” she said.
She also alleged selective targeting by the poll panel, claiming that BJP-ruled Assam was excluded from the exercise. “In Assam there is a BJP government, so you didn’t do SIR there. You are targeting Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” she said.
Banerjee alleged that while other states were permitted to use documents such as land records and Madhyamik certificates, the rules were altered for Bengal.
Escalating her attack, she said, “This is not the Election Commission. This is not the CEC. This is a BJP agent.”
‘Humiliated, given garbage of lies’
Banerjee said she walked out of the meeting in protest. “I boycotted and stepped out. This election commissioner is very arrogant. We were misbehaved with. We were humiliated,” she said.
“The CEC gave us a garbage of lies. We came here for justice but were given injustice,” she added, accusing the Commission of violating Supreme Court verdicts and restricting media access near the ECI. “I have never seen this kind of Chief Election Commissioner,” Banerjee said.
CEC pushes back on TMC claims: sources
However, sources familiar with the meeting said the CEC strongly rejected the Trinamool Congress delegation’s allegations and asserted that the rule of law would prevail.
According to sources, the CEC warned that anyone taking the law into their own hands would face strict action under provisions available to the Election Commission.
The Commission also flagged concerns over the conduct of Trinamool leaders, with sources claiming that TMC MLAs had used abusive and threatening language against election officials engaged in SIR work. Incidents of alleged vandalisation of Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) offices were also raised.
The CEC made it clear that no pressure or obstruction would be tolerated during the exercise.
BLO payments, staffing gaps raised
During the meeting, the Commission also highlighted administrative issues, including delays in honorarium payments to BLOs. Of the sanctioned Rs 18,000 per BLO, only Rs 7,000 has been paid so far, sources said.
The Commission further flagged that EROs and assistant EROs deployed for the SIR were not of the rank of sub-divisional magistrates or tehsildars, affecting efficiency.
Black protest with SIR-affected families
Earlier, Banerjee, along with Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and MP Kalyan Banerjee, met the CEC along with 12 family members allegedly affected by the SIR process. The delegation wore black as a mark of protest.
The families included individuals declared dead despite being alive and relatives of people who allegedly died due to stress linked to the revision exercise. Security was stepped up outside the ECI during the visit.
Banerjee also echoed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in Parliament, saying the controversy had disrupted proceedings. “If the BJP stays, only then your chair stays. Today you can save your chair, tomorrow you can’t,” she said.
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