Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stepped up her attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday, while making a fresh appeal for Opposition unity ahead of the INDIA bloc’s meeting in Delhi next week.
“Vanish Kumar must go. Our movement will continue until he goes,” said Mamata Banerjee, addressing a rally in Sreerampore. The Trinamool Congress chief also reiterated her allegation that her party had not genuinely lost the West Bengal Assembly election, but had been deliberately defeated. “We did not lose. We were forcibly defeated.”
Banerjee alleged that EVMs and counting centres had been “hijacked” during the election, adding that she believed more information would emerge. “Everything will gradually come out. The truth cannot be suppressed,” she said.
Turning to the wider Opposition, Mamata Banerjee said parties should set aside ideological and organisational differences when an issue affects people's interests. “The entire country is united. We are united and will fight together. There is no need to see who is red, blue or yellow. The election process must be transparent,” said Banerjee.
She made the point even more explicitly, saying the identity of a party should not determine whether she would work with it. “We will not see whether it is an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘Z’ party that is protesting. We will look at the issue. If it is in the interests of the people, I don't need to see which party or what colour it is. We will stand with them,” asserted the TMC Supremo.
Mamata Banerjee also referred to her recent conversations with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby. According to her, Baby had approached her seeking a joint discussion on the issue. “Mr Baby wrote to me and said, ‘We think this is a big issue. Let us sit together.’ I immediately said, yes, I agree with you. Let us discuss it together.” Banerjee recalled that she had previously called for Opposition parties, including Left parties, to come together. “I had said right at the beginning, let everyone come together. Let everyone get ready. Many people said many things then.”
The Trinamool Congress Supremo has been particularly vocal against Gyanesh Kumar since the SIR exercise began in Bengal. At Saturday’s rally, she also renewed her criticism of the Commission and referred to recent reporting concerning SIR-related issues. Her attack on the poll panel comes after the TMC’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly election. Since the results, Banerjee has repeatedly disputed the outcome and alleged irregularities in the electoral process. She also turned her attention to the BJP and the Centre, claiming that the political situation in Delhi was unstable. “Delhi is shaky, she said, predicting continued political turbulence. “A storm has risen, a storm. There is a storm everywhere. In the storm, they will be swept away like straw,” Mamata Banerjee said.
The remarks come ahead of the September 30 meeting of the INDIA bloc in Delhi, where Opposition parties are expected to discuss their next steps over the Election Commission’s functioning and a proposed motion seeking Kumar’s removal. The controversy centres on an Indian Express expose highlighting the reported differences within the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and other decisions.
The Opposition has sought Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, while the Election Commission has maintained that its major decisions on SIR were taken unanimously. The INDIA bloc was formed in 2023 to bring together parties opposed to the BJP. Its internal unity has since faced strains, with differences emerging between the Congress and several regional allies. The latest dispute over the Election Commission has, however, brought parties that remain political rivals in some states onto the same platform at the national level.
