Arrest Gyanesh Kumar, take criminal action over SIR: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, 23 September demanded the arrest of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and criminal proceedings against him, escalating the political attack on the Election Commission of India after a report highlighted repeated objections raised by two of its members over decisions concerning electoral rolls.

Banerjee alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal had deprived lakhs of people of their right to vote and accused the Election Commission of working to benefit the BJP. "My first demand is that he should be arrested and criminal proceedings should be initiated against him," she said, referring to Kumar.

She claimed that 58 lakh voters were initially affected during the SIR exercise, followed by the exclusion of 27 lakh names and a further deletion of seven lakh names, taking the total number of affected voters, according to her, to 92 lakh. She alleged that technology and officials favouring the BJP had been used in the process.

Banerjee also sought criminal action against officials associated with the ECI, including deputy election commissioners, IT officials and Electoral Registration Officers.

The TMC chief further alleged that electronic voting machines had been "hijacked" and raised questions over a fire at the South 24 Parganas district magistrate's office in Alipore, where EVMs were stored. She claimed that there had been no fire on the first three floors but that one later broke out in the area where the machines were kept.

Banerjee demanded restoration of the previous electoral rolls and fresh elections in constituencies where, she alleged, voters had been prevented from exercising their franchise.

West Bengal Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar too demanded action against Kumar, crediting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with raising concerns over the SIR process. Sarkar alleged that irregularities had been found in electoral-roll data and that genuine voters had been removed.

"Gyanesh Kumar must be arrested and his passport must be cancelled so that he cannot flee from India," Sarkar said, alleging that the Election Commission was advancing the BJP's political agenda.

TMC national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee also demanded action against the CEC and called for a look out circular to prevent him from leaving the country. "LOC should be issued against Gyanesh Kumar to prevent him from fleeing. He should be arrested," he said, alleging that electoral rolls had been manipulated in favour of the BJP.

Abhishek also questioned Kumar's appointment as CEC and alleged that changes to the law governing the appointment of election commissioners had increased the Union government's influence over the process. He said the issue had moved beyond a demand for the CEC's removal and now warranted criminal action.

The remarks followed an investigation by The Indian Express reporting that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders they said had been taken without their knowledge. The objections reportedly covered voter registration and deletion, changes to Form 6, the handling of appeals against voter deletions and the centralisation of the electoral-roll database.

The ECI has rejected the suggestion that the objections amounted to a formal institutional split, saying such observations are part of its decision-making process. It said the decisions taken by the full Commission over the past year, including those related to the SIR, were unanimous.

CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim also demanded Kumar's removal and called for the SIR process to be withdrawn. "On 29 October 2025, before the SIR process started, we said this was unconstitutional. Now, he has been exposed. ECI is a constitutional body and no one is supreme," Salim said.

Salim alleged that the Election Commission had been used for political purposes and that Kumar had violated rules to favour the BJP. He said the entire SIR exercise should be undone and called for judicial accountability.

The Indian Express report said the objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi included concerns over changes to Form 6, restrictions on Electoral Registration Officers' access to voter databases and the filing of appeals against orders restoring voters in West Bengal. It also reported that the two commissioners had raised concerns over the centralisation of the electoral-roll database and, in separate communications, flagged issues with changes to the allocation of work relating to the ECI's IT infrastructure.