The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday claimed that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar told a party delegation to “get lost” when it approached the poll panel to express concerns about officials allegedly linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party being made part of the West Bengal polling process.
A delegation comprising Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose and Menaka Guruswamy, and party spokesperson Saket Gokhale had met the Election Commission at its Delhi office on Wednesday with a memorandum demanding that officials involved in the electoral process must maintain neutrality.
“The chief election commissioner told us within seven minutes of the meeting to ‘get lost’,” ANI quoted O’Brien as having claimed while speaking with reporters.
He said that the Trinamool Congress had asked the Election Commission how free and fair polls could be held when the panel was transferring officials.
“He [Kumar] said ‘leave from here’ when we told him that he was not letting his fellow officers speak,” O’Brien was quoted as having claimed. “What I saw today is a shame. I challenge the Election Commissioner to release the video or audio of what happened today.”
The Trinamool Congress MP said that all “like-minded anti-BJP parties” will hold a press conference around 4 pm on the matter.
#WATCH | Delhi: TMC MP Derek O'Brien says, "Today, we went to the Chief Election Commissioner. He told us 'get lost' within 7 minutes of the meeting. The meeting started at 10:02 AM and ended at 10:07 AM... When we told him that you are transferring officials, and how you would… pic.twitter.com/PBtcsf8PMI
— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2026 Unidentified Election Commission officials were quoted as saying by ANI that Kumar had requested O’Brien to maintain decorum during the meeting, and that “shouting and indecent behaviour” was not appropriate.
Scroll has requested comments from the Election Commission. This story will be updated if comments are received.
In a social media post on Wednesday, the Election Commission referred to “straight-talk to Trinamool Congress” and said it had told Bengal’s ruling party that the Assembly polls this time would be “fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free and without any chappa, booth-jamming and source-jamming”.
The Trinamool Congress objected to the post, asking if this was how “a neutral constitutional body” was expected to behave.
Ghose claimed that the Election Commission only said “two lines” to the party delegation. She said the first line was “where is your authorised signatory” and “the second most shameful two words: ‘Get lost’”.
Gokhale challenged the Election Commission to release a transcript of the meeting and said the party would do so, if the poll panel did not.
Straight-talk to @ECISVEEP:
Is this how a neutral constitutional body is expected to behave?
সোজা কথা সোজাভাবেই বলছি: মুখোশটা এবার খুলে ফেলুন! https://t.co/JkSSYEvq4o
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 8, 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.
The Trinamool Congress has alleged that the Election Commission, through the special intensive revision exercise conducted before the polls, targeted specific communities for deletion from the voter rolls, including the Matuas, Rajbanshis and minorities.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party has also alleged that the poll panel has engaged in the partisan posting of officials for conducting the election.
Earlier this week, it cited a video purportedly showing a sector assistant named Atanu Chakraborty helping prepare campaign material for the BJP in the Panihati Assembly constituency in the North 24 Parganas district.
The Election Commission suspended the official and sent him a notice asking him to explain why he should not face penal action.
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