West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of “insulting, disrespecting and humiliating” her during a meeting in Delhi over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The meeting, held at Nirvachan Sadan, turned acrimonious and ended with Banerjee and her delegation walking out about an hour into the meeting.

Banerjee arrived at the Election Commission office wearing a black shawl as a mark of protest. She was accompanied by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, party MP Kalyan Banerjee, and eight people who were allegedly affected by the SIR process. According to Banerjee, the delegation decided to boycott the CEC and leave the meeting due to his conduct.

Speaking to reporters after coming out of the Election Commission office, Banerjee said, “We boycotted the CEC and walked out. We were insulted, disrespected and humiliated. I have never seen this kind of CEC. He is very arrogant. He behaved so badly with us. We meet him to get justice. We never got justice. You are doing an injustice. He is a great liar. All are garbage of lies.”

Banerjee directly targeted Gyanesh Kumar and compared his behaviour to that of former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. She said, “Today, you are acting on the BJP’s orders. Dhankhar also acted in the same way. He was the Governor of our state who always used to oppose us. We used to respect him. But there is a ‘Laxman Rekha’. Your fate would be the same as Dhankhar's. You are not including voters in the electoral roll. You are deleting their names.”

She further added, “You can save your chair today. You won’t be able to save it tomorrow (in future). I have seen many CECs – SY Quraishi and TN Seshan. They were very strong. They never became a parrot for any political party.”

The Election Commission, however, rejected the allegations made by the TMC chief. In a statement, the poll panel said the CEC informed the delegation that the rule of law would prevail and that any intimidation, obstruction or interference in the SIR process would be dealt with strictly.

The Commission also raised concerns about alleged threats against election officials. It mentioned incidents of vandalism at the premises of electoral registration officers (EROs), unauthorised transfers of electoral roll observers, failure to take action against officials accused of data security violations, and delays in payment of booth-level officer (BLO) honorariums. According to the EC, only ₹7,000 out of the approved ₹18,000 honorarium has been released so far.

In its official statement, the Commission said, “A TMC delegation led by Banerjee, met the commission and raised certain issues relating to the ongoing SIR in WB... TMC MLAs are openly using abusive and threatening language against the Commission and especially against the CEC. Also threatening the election officials. There have been incidents of vandalism of the ERO offices by TMC workers and MLAs. No pressure, obstruction, or interference of any kind by anyone should be exerted on officers engaged in SIR work.”

The SIR process began in West Bengal in November last year. The draft electoral rolls have seen the deletion of 5.82 million names. The deletion percentage stands at 7.6%, which is the lowest among states that are scheduled to go to the polls this summer. Among the 12 regions where the revision is underway, West Bengal has witnessed the maximum protests and controversies. The ruling TMC has strongly opposed the SIR, while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made infiltration a key issue in the run-up to the elections.

Banerjee has written five letters to the CEC regarding the issue. She has also convened review meetings with district administrations and instructed party workers to assist affected voters in filing claims and objections. She has warned that technical glitches and procedural lapses could distort electoral rolls before the elections. The Election Commission has denied all these allegations.

The TMC also took at least 100 families to Delhi, including families of booth-level officers and electors who allegedly died by suicide or suffered cardiac arrest due to the SIR process, as well as those who were declared dead despite being alive. Eight of these families were part of the delegation that met the CEC.

When asked whether the TMC would boycott the upcoming assembly elections, Banerjee ruled it out. She said, “We will never boycott the election. I will never commit this blunder. We will fight it out. They have taken over the government at least six months before the assembly elections. They are not allowing the government to work. They are behaving as if President’s Rule has been imposed in the state. Bengal is being targeted.”

Meanwhile, in Kolkata, a 14-member BJP delegation led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met Governor CV Ananda Bose and submitted a memorandum. Adhikari accused the TMC of creating chaos during the SIR process. He said, “The TMC had resorted to hooliganism in the hearing centres. Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, a section of BLOs, EROs and AEROs deliberately made errors in the voters’ names and ages. Millions of people were called for a hearing and harassed. We demand the suspension of the government officials and that FIRs be lodged against them. We have specific information against three district election officers.”