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Mamata Demands CEC Arrest, Fresh Bengal Polls Over "Looted" Elections
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CNBC TV18•23-09-2026, 18:34
Mamata Demands CEC Arrest, Fresh Bengal Polls Over "Looted" Elections
- •Mamata Banerjee demanded the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and fresh assembly elections in West Bengal using the pre-SIR voter list.
- •She alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission "looted" the earlier polls, citing a report on Election Commissioners red-flagging issues with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
- •Banerjee called for pan-India protests until Gyanesh Kumar is arrested, stating he is unfit for the CEC position and that it's a "fight for freedom" from a compromised CEC and BJP.
- •The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected multiple times to SIR decisions, some allegedly taken without their knowledge.
- •The Election Commission, however, stated that all SIR decisions were made unanimously with the approval of all three commissioners.
Key Questions Answered
Mamata Banerjee demanded the immediate arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for fresh assembly elections in West Bengal using the pre-SIR voter list.
Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected 14 times over 10 months regarding various SIR decisions and orders, including voter name deletions and software management carried out without their consensus.
The Election Commission froze the use of the All India Trinamool Congress name and its reserved twin flowers-and-grass symbol amid an internal factional feud, allotting separate interim identities to the rival groups for the October 6 bypolls.
