People will not forgive 'Vanish Kumar': Mamata attacks Gyanesh, questions poll panel immunity

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday attacked Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, referring to him as “Vanish Kumar” and questioning the legal protection available to members of the Election Commission.

Referring to Kumar, Banerjee said, “He made people's rights vanish. How can I forgive him? Who am I? It is the people of India who will not forgive him.”

At a press conference in New Delhi, she said the TMC had opposed the SIR exercise in West Bengal from the beginning and alleged that the process had been centralised by the Election Commission.

“We went to the court but did not get justice. We went to the EC with 100 victims. They insulted us,” she said, alleging that TMC MPs who went to meet the CEC were told to “get lost”.

Banerjee also questioned the immunity provided to the chief election commissioner and election commissioners under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.

The law provides protection from civil or criminal proceedings for a serving or former CEC or EC member for an act, thing or word done or spoken while acting, or purporting to act, in the discharge of official duties.

“If somebody is in charge of taking care of the election process and democracy, as per the Constitution and the obligations of democracy, then no issue. We respect that. But if somebody, because of immunity, is sitting in a chair...,” Banerjee said.

On voter deletions during the SIR, she alleged that constituencies and areas won by the TMC in the West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year had been disproportionately affected.

“Wherever we won, four times more voters were cut,” she claimed.

Banerjee also alleged that the BJP had “masterminded” incidents involving the burning of around 4,000 electronic voting machines in West Bengal. The allegation was not independently established in her remarks.

She further alleged that the TMC and its workers were facing restrictions and harassment in the state.

“I am not allowed to move out of my house without a court order. Our party is not allowed to hold meetings. Cases have been registered against our workers. Even at my residence, there is no security, nothing.

“Every day, 200-300 hooligans are coming, shouting and doing hooliganism in front of my house. Now, after 8 pm, no one is on the road,” Banerjee said.

Her remarks came a day after opposition parties held an INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi over the SIR exercise and the functioning of the Election Commission. The opposition has demanded action against Kumar, while the Election Commission has maintained that its decisions follow the established legal process.