West Bengal CM Accuses Chief Election Commissioner of Threatening Officials Amid Election Preparations

Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused Gyanesh Kumar of threatening state officials during a meeting with the state administration, saying such behaviour from constitutional authorities was unacceptable. Her remarks came amid growing political tensions ahead of the upcoming state elections. The comments followed a meeting earlier in the day between the full bench of the Election Commission of India and senior bureaucrats and police officials in West Bengal to review preparations for the assembly elections expected in April. Speaking from the venue of her dharna in Kolkata against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Banerjee alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner had spoken harshly to state officials during the review meeting. “The CEC threatened our officers today at the meeting. I want to tell the CEC that having courage is good, but false bravado is not good,” she asserted. According to officials present at the meeting, Kumar warned that lapses in maintaining law and order ahead of the elections would not be tolerated. They said he told officials that strict action would follow if responsibilities were not discharged properly. The Chief Election Commissioner also reportedly raised concerns about the absence of a Narcotics Advisory Committee in the state and asked officials to strengthen monitoring systems before the elections. Banerjee also criticised the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, claiming the exercise could be misused to deprive citizens of their voting rights. “We have only one point; everyone must be given the right to vote. We want to ensure voting rights for all,” the Trinamool Congress supremo said. She further alleged that intimidation and removal of voters’ names from the electoral rolls were being used as political strategies. “If you think you can capture power by attacking people, intimidating them and removing names from the voters’ list, that will not happen,” the CM said. The developments come at a time when political activity in West Bengal has intensified in anticipation of the upcoming assembly elections, with both administrative preparedness and electoral processes under close scrutiny.