Banerjee seeks Kumar’s arrest and fresh West Bengal polls

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s arrest and fresh assembly elections in the state, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission had manipulated the polls. She said a new election should use the voter list that existed before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The allegations have not been independently established in the reporting provided. Banerjee made the demands during a Facebook Live address on September 23. She also called for protests while Kumar remains chief election commissioner. Her remarks followed reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to SIR-related decisions, including concerns about voter-name deletions. Those reports, all drawing on the same account, said Sandhu and Joshi recorded objections at least 14 times over ten months. The reported count does not establish the substance of each objection or show that they concerned Banerjee’s claims about election results. The Election Commission said decisions relating to SIR were taken unanimously with the approval of all three commissioners.