Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded fresh Assembly elections in the state using the pre-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter list, accusing the Election Commission of working in the interests of the BJP. Her remarks followed a media report claiming that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, raised formal objections to aspects of the SIR exercise over the past 0-10 months.

Banerjee, speaking during a Facebook Live session, called for the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, stating that the EC had 'looted the West Bengal assembly polls.' She alleged that Kumar was 'a mastermind behind the Special Incentive from Ruling Party,' which she claimed had 'hijacked counting centres.' The TMC leader also accused Kumar of having 'no moral authority to continue' in his role.

Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary and MP of the TMC, echoed these claims, alleging that 30 lakh voter names were deleted from West Bengal’s electoral rolls to benefit the BJP. He claimed similar manipulation had occurred in Haryana and Bihar, and demanded Kumar’s immediate arrest. He also questioned the process through which Kumar was appointed, citing a split Supreme Court verdict on the Election Commission selection panel and the dismissal of an impeachment motion moved by Opposition parties.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) responded by stating that 'operational queries or inputs' had been raised by Sandhu and Joshi during the draft stage of the SIR exercise, but that decisions were taken unanimously with the approval of all three Election Commissioners. The ECI described these objections as part of 'standard administrative practice aimed at safeguarding voter rights.' However, the ECI did not comment on the specific allegations of voter list manipulation or the validity of the objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi.

Banerjee also claimed that the BJP had 'won' in West Bengal, Bihar, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh 'forcefully,' and that the INDIA bloc had informed the Chief Justice of India about these issues. She stated that the bloc had sought an audience with the Chief Justice to present their concerns, but no further details were provided. Other leaders from the INDIA bloc, including Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav, have also criticized Kumar, with Kejriwal demanding his arrest and prosecution.

What remains unknown is the exact nature of the objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi, whether they were based on substantive concerns or procedural disagreements, and whether the ECI has taken any formal action in response to these objections. The ECI has not provided a detailed account of the SIR process or the role of the two dissenting commissioners. The TMC has not released any evidence to substantiate its claims of voter list manipulation, and the ECI has not confirmed or denied these allegations. The situation remains unresolved, with political tensions continuing to escalate.