Reacting to reports of objections by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, Banerjee alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission had compromised the electoral process and said Kumar had “no moral authority to continue.”
BY PC Bureau
NEW DELHI, September 23: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday demanded the immediate arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, called for fresh Assembly elections in West Bengal using the pre-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter list and announced protests across the country against the CEC. Her remarks came after an Indian Express report highlighted repeated objections recorded by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over aspects of the electoral-roll revision exercise.
Speaking during a Facebook Live, Banerjee said the reported objections had vindicated concerns raised by her party over the electoral-roll revision. She alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission had acted together to manipulate the electoral process in West Bengal.
“It has now been proven that the BJP and the EC looted the West Bengal Assembly polls,” Banerjee alleged, demanding: “Re-election must be held in West Bengal with the old voter list.”
“Not impeachment – #GyaneshKumar should be ARRESTED. He should surrender himself if he has any shame left. He should be arrested FOR LOOTING DEMOCRACY” demands #MamataBanerjee after the @IndianExpress expose pic.twitter.com/yOeostoCXA
— Tamal Saha (@Tamal0401) September 23, 2026
She also made an explicit call for Kumar’s arrest.
“He must be immediately arrested and put behind bars. The chair of the CEC is not for a person like him,” Banerjee said.
Reacting specifically to the Indian Express report, she described it as an unprecedented controversy.
“This is such a scandalous story. We had never seen this in our lives. This Election Commissioner must be arrested. He has no moral authority to continue,” she said, according to reports of her address.
‘The only topic being discussed is whether Gyanesh Kumar will be arrested’
Banerjee claimed that her party had raised concerns about SIR months before the election and said the issue had now acquired national significance.
“The only topic being discussed across India is whether Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will be arrested. We were the first party to raise this issue,” she said.
She claimed that concerns over SIR had been raised seven to eight months before the election and alleged that the exercise was aimed at affecting voters’ rights.
Banerjee also called for fresh elections in other states where, according to her, the BJP had won after SIR. She said states where the electoral process had been affected by SIR should go back to the old voter list and hold elections again.
In remarks reported by ABP Live, she said that in states where elections had been won after allegedly using SIR, EVMs and the electoral process were “hijacked” by Gyanesh Kumar and demanded that elections be held again using the old rolls. These are Banerjee’s allegations and have not been established as findings by the Election Commission or a court.
‘They cannot destroy our Constitution’
Banerjee also framed the controversy as a wider constitutional and democratic issue.
“He has no moral authority to continue, and BJP must see that they cannot destroy our Constitution. They cannot destroy democracy,” she said.
She described the proposed campaign against Kumar as “another fight for freedom”, saying it was a fight against what she called a compromised CEC and the BJP.
Banerjee also announced that protests would continue across the country “till Gyanesh Kumar remains CEC”.
Allegation of BJP-linked personnel in election machinery
The former West Bengal chief minister also alleged that BJP-linked personnel had been placed within the electoral machinery.
“They cannot depute their own EROs in the name of BJP IT Team,” she said, referring to her allegation that personnel aligned with the BJP had been introduced into the election system.
“What we had said earlier, now it is being exposed,” she said.
Banerjee further alleged that Kumar had misused the police and that “BJP-minded” personnel had been deployed across the electoral system.
“Such a scandal has never happened before,” she said, adding that if Kumar had “any honour left”, he should himself seek to be arrested.
SIR as ‘Special Incentive for Ruling party’
Banerjee also attacked the SIR exercise itself, using the phrase “Special Incentive for Ruling party” as a political characterization of the acronym.
She argued that the electoral-roll revision had disproportionately affected voters and demanded that the old electoral rolls be restored for fresh elections in states where she alleged the process had influenced electoral outcomes.
READ: ECI Clarification Leaves Joshi-Sandhu Questions Unanswered
Banerjee said opposition parties had discussed the issue and would meet soon.
She indicated that the reported objections by the two Election Commissioners had made the controversy a matter that extended beyond the TMC and West Bengal, with the INDIA bloc expected to discuss the Election Commission and the SIR process.
What triggered Banerjee’s attack
Banerjee’s remarks followed the Indian Express report that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months on matters relating to electoral-roll management, including voter additions and deletions, changes to Form 6, appeals in West Bengal and control of the electoral-roll database.
The report said the two commissioners had raised concerns over decisions they alleged were taken without adequate consultation or, in some instances, without their knowledge.
The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the objections demonstrate a breakdown in the functioning of the three-member Commission. It said the commissioners’ “operational queries or inputs” were part of the normal administrative process and maintained that decisions relating to SIR had been taken unanimously by all three Election Commissioners.
The ECI has not accepted Banerjee’s allegations that the West Bengal Assembly election was compromised or that its officials acted in coordination with the BJP.
Banerjee’s demand for Kumar’s arrest, meanwhile, goes beyond her earlier criticism of the SIR process, placing the CEC personally at the centre of the political confrontation over the Election Commission’s handling of electoral rolls.
