Will EC choose the govt? Mamata Banerjee confronts poll body in Delhi

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders protested against the Election Commission in Delhi, accusing it of arrogance, bias for the BJP, and wrongfully removing 2 crore names from the state's voter lists through the SIR process.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, party MP Kalyan Banerjee, and others, met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the office of the Election Commission of India in New Delhi on Monday. Wearing black shawls as a mark of protest, CM Mamata Banerjee asked if the Election Commission would choose the West Bengal government before the election.

CM Mamata Banerjee said, "Will the Election Commission choose the government before the election. We are watching. You have the power of the BJP. We have the power of the people. So we boycotted the meeting. They have insulted us, humiliated us. I am saying this type of Election Commission is very arrogant. He spoke with a certain attitude. Deliberately, he behaved so badly with us. He behaved badly, and he treated us badly. I said, I am sorry that we came together with you to deliver justice. We didn't get justice, but you are doing injustice and telling lies. He is a great liar. He is giving a briefing after our queries. All are junk, all are lies. We gave five letters, and he didn't reply to a single one."

'2 crore names removed from voters' list'

She further alleged that around 2 crore people's names have been removed from the voters' list in the state. She further said, "They say whatever they have done is right. They did not allow any outside cameramen to enter. What is done to hide democracy? They are working under the BJP's direction. First they removed 58 lakh voters then they removed 1.4 crore voters. Around 2 crore people's names have been removed from the voters' list and put under mismatch. BJP has won Haryana, Maharashtra and Bihar by manipulation. I can bring lakhs of people here in Delhi, and I can parade them in front of anybody..."

'Declared dead but are alive'

"More than 150 people died, including the BLOs, due to this SIR. I have brought 100 people with me. There are some of them who have been declared dead in the voters list, but they are alive and present here," she further said.

Questions raised over SIR process

CM Mamata Banerjee further said that SIR should have been conducted after proper planning in election-bound states. The Chief Minister further said, "If you had to do SIR, you should have left the election-bound states and done it with proper planning, but you didn't. You have a BJP government in Assam. You didn't do SIR in Assam, but you did it in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. What did you do to us? You removed 58 lakh people. There's a lot of mismatch and mismapping here."

'Never seen such an arrogant, liar EC'

CM Mamata Banerjee slammed the Election Commissioner and alleged that he was a liar. She further added, "I am very sad. I have been involved in politics in Delhi for a very long time. I was a minister 4 times and an MP 7 times. I have never seen such an Election Commissioner who is so arrogant, who is such a liar. I told him that I respect your chair because no chair is permanent for anyone. One day you have to go... Why Bengal is being targeted. Elections are a festival in a democracy, but you deleted the names of 58 lakh people and did not allow them to defend themselves."

TMC stands by affected families amid heavy police deployment

"At Hailey Road, CM Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee stood beside the families affected by the SIR process, and made it clear that no pressure, no authority, and no conspiracy can crush the rights or the dignity of Bengal's people," TMC said in a post on X.

There was heavy deployment of Delhi Police outside the two Banga Bhawans (West Bengal State Guest Houses) in Hailey Road and in Chanakyapuri. Earlier, CM Mamata Banerjee met families affected by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Banga Bhavan in the national capital on Monday, while alleging a politically driven attempt to suppress voters in Bengal. She also accused the Delhi Police of failing to protect citizens and alleged that hundreds of people were wrongly shown as deceased to remove them from electoral rolls, and called the situation politically motivated. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)