New Delhi | A Trinamool Congress delegation's meeting with the Election Commission on Wednesday to raise issues related to SIR in West Bengal saw acrimonious exchanges, with the party leaders claiming the Chief Election Commissioner asked them to "get lost" and the poll panel accusing them of "shouting".
The meeting, which barely lasted seven minutes, was followed by a terse statement from the Election Commission (EC), saying it gave a "straight-talk" to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation that "this time, the elections in West Bengal would surely be: fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free".
Hitting back, the TMC, which has accused the EC of acting at the behest of the BJP, said the elections must be free from "Delhi's control, political bias and targeted persecution".
The TMC delegation -- comprising its Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, deputy leader Sagarika Ghose, MPs Saket Gokhale and Menaka Guruswamy -- met the full bench of the Election Commission to raise the issue of alleged disenfranchisement of voters during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal.
EC sources accused O'Brien of shouting at the election commissioners and said that he asked Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar not to speak.
"The CEC requested Derek O'Brien to maintain decorum in the commission room. Shouting and indecent behaviour are not appropriate," they said.
After submitting their memorandum, the TMC leaders told the CEC that they did not want just words, but action on the ground, party sources claimed, adding the CEC accused O'Brien of speaking loudly and told them to "get lost".
In a sharp retort, the poll panel said on X that it gave a "straight-talk" to the TMC delegation. It is rare for the EC to use such words in a statement and equally unusual to name any party in an official reaction.
The EC said it told the TMC that "this time, the elections in West Bengal would surely be: fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free and without any 'chappa, booth-jamming and source-jamming' (electoral malpractices)".
Talking to reporters after the meeting, O'Brien said they handed over nine letters written by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the CEC, which the MP said have not been acknowledged.
They also apprised the Election Commission of specific instances showing certain poll officials' alleged links with the BJP, and demanded that they be transferred.
"We gave him six examples of officials who are part of the election process and have links with the BJP," O'Brien claimed. Among the examples cited was that of the Chief Electoral Officer being accompanied by a local BJP leader in Nandigram. A memorandum was submitted in this regard, he said.
"We asked the CEC how he can ensure the conduct of free and fair elections when such tainted officers are being appointed in Bengal. To this, his answer was Get lost," said O'Brien.
"We told the CEC we would not listen to him because he does not allow his colleagues to speak. We have attended eight to nine meetings like this, where none other than the CEC speaks," O'Brien said.
At the end of the brief meeting, a TMC leader "congratulated Gyanesh Kumar on being the first CEC in history to have notices seeking his removal submitted in Parliament", O'Brien said.
According to a source present at the meeting, as soon as the TMC delegation entered the meeting, the CEC pointed out the absence of their authorised representative, to which O'Brien asked if they were "unauthorised" and should leave.
The TMC leaders also took to X, rejecting EC's claims about the meeting.
In a post, Sagarika Ghose called the poll panel's claim a "blatant lie" and said, "none of this was said to the four-member delegation".
"Two lines were said to us by the Chief Election Commissioner 'Vanish' Kumar. The first line: where is your authorised signatory. And the second most shameful two words: 'get lost'," Ghose claimed.
In his post, Saket Gokhale accused the EC of singling out one political party.
"ECI official handle tweets, singling out one political party. Does this criminal CEC have the guts to tweet saying 'straight talk to BJP'?" he said.
Tagging the EC's post, the TMC wrote on its X handle, "Straight-talk to ECI: Is this how a neutral constitutional body is expected to behave?"
In another post, the party said, "We are also speaking straight to the Election Commission in a straightforward manner. This time, the elections must be: free from Delhi's control, free from political bias, free from targeted persecution of anyone, and certainly free from double standards."
