Mamata Banerjee demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's arrest, impeachment over voter list row
Synopsis
Mamata Banerjee has gone beyond political sparring — she is demanding the arrest of India's sitting Chief Election Commissioner, alleging a coordinated conspiracy involving voter-list deletions, EVM manipulation, and police misuse to hand the BJP successive electoral wins. With the impeachment route already shut in the Lok Sabha, her Facebook live transforms a constitutional dispute into an open public confrontation with the country's top poll body.
Key Takeaways
Mamata Banerjee demanded on 23 September 2026 that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be impeached and arrested immediately.
She alleged Kumar used the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to delete genuine voters' names and rig assembly elections in favour of the BJP .
Banerjee called for fresh voting based on old voter lists, saying the revised rolls were manipulated.
She claimed a Lok Sabha Speaker had blocked an impeachment motion against Kumar from being presented in Parliament.
She alleged 65 people had been killed in West Bengal in the four months since the BJP came to state power, accusing the police of acting as a BJP instrument.
The Election Commission of India had not formally responded to the allegations at the time of reporting.
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, publicly demanded the arrest and impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he orchestrated the deletion of genuine voters' names through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and used that process to tilt assembly elections in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Banerjee made the demand via a live broadcast on Facebook from Kolkata, escalating her sustained campaign against the country's top poll body.
What Banerjee Alleged
Banerjee claimed that Kumar had facilitated BJP victories by combining three alleged methods: electronic voting machine (EVM) hijacking, voter list manipulation, and administrative interference during elections across multiple states, including West Bengal earlier this year. She also alleged that the CEC was 'solely responsible' for returning the BJP to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'The current CEC was solely responsible for bringing back the BJP to power in 2024. He is not fit for this chair. He is solely responsible for the ultimate dictatorship that the BJP is running. Gyanesh Kumar has misused the police and central forces in election after election. As long as he is in the chair, the movement against him will continue,' Banerjee said in her social media message.
Call for Fresh Voting and Impeachment
Banerjee demanded that fresh voting be held using the old voter lists, arguing that the SIR exercise had unlawfully stripped genuine voters of their franchise. She pointed to reported differences within the top leadership of the Election Commission of India (ECI) as evidence that Kumar's conduct had been exposed internally. She also noted that an impeachment motion had been moved against him, but that the Lok Sabha Speaker had refused to allow it to be presented on the floor of the House.
'He should not be just impeached. He should be arrested also,' she stated. The ECI and the government had not issued a formal response to her demands at the time of reporting.
Attack on the West Bengal Government
Banerjee also directed sharp criticism at the current BJP-ruled state government in West Bengal, alleging a pattern of political violence. 'In the last four months, around 65 people have been killed. The state police are operating as an extended arm of the BJP,' she said, while cautioning police personnel that the party's hold on power was not permanent.
This comes amid a broader climate of post-election tension in West Bengal, where opposition and ruling-party supporters have reported recurring clashes. The allegations of law enforcement partisanship remain disputed and have not been independently verified.
Context and What Comes Next
Banerjee's remarks represent the sharpest direct attack yet by a major Opposition leader on a sitting Chief Election Commissioner. Critics argue that targeting constitutional appointments through social media carries its own institutional risks. Supporters, however, contend that systemic electoral manipulation demands equally forceful accountability calls. With the Election Commission yet to respond formally, and the impeachment route blocked in the Lok Sabha, the political and legal pressure around Kumar's tenure is set to intensify.
Point of View
SIR-driven voter deletion, administrative collusion — are serious, but they are being made on Facebook, not in a court of law or before an institutional inquiry body, which limits their immediate legal weight. What is significant is the reported internal friction within the ECI that she is pointing to: if corroborated, that changes the story from opposition grievance to institutional fracture. The BJP's takeover of West Bengal, if it occurred under the conditions Banerjee describes, will face years of legitimacy questions regardless of how the Kumar controversy resolves. The real accountability gap is Parliament's: blocking an impeachment motion from even reaching the floor removes the one constitutional check designed for exactly this moment.
NationPress
23 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Mamata Banerjee demanding the arrest of CEC Gyanesh Kumar?
Mamata Banerjee alleges that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar manipulated voter lists through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, deleting genuine voters' names, and combined this with EVM tampering and administrative interference to help the BJP win multiple state elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. She made the demand during a live Facebook broadcast on 23 September 2026.
What is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise that Mamata mentioned?
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is an Election Commission of India process to update and clean electoral rolls by verifying voter registrations. Banerjee alleges it was misused under the current CEC to delete the names of legitimate voters, effectively disenfranchising Opposition-leaning constituencies.
Has an impeachment motion been filed against CEC Gyanesh Kumar?
According to Banerjee, an impeachment motion was moved against Kumar, but the Lok Sabha Speaker did not allow it to be presented on the floor of the House. She cited this as evidence that parliamentary accountability channels have been blocked.
What did Mamata Banerjee say about the law and order situation in West Bengal?
Banerjee alleged that around 65 people had been killed in West Bengal in the four months since the BJP assumed state power, and accused the state police of functioning as an extension of the ruling party. These claims have not been independently verified and the state government has not formally responded.
How has the Election Commission of India responded to Banerjee's allegations?
The Election Commission of India had not issued a formal public response to Banerjee's demands or allegations at the time of reporting. The BJP-led Union government also had not commented on her call for Kumar's arrest.
