The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar came under sharp attack from Mamata Banerjee at the INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi on Wednesday, with the Trinamool Congress chief referring to Kumar as “Vanish Kumar”, sources said.
Mamata was speaking at the Opposition meeting convened to chalk out a joint strategy on the SIR exercise and the Election Commission. The bloc is also discussing demands for Kumar’s removal amid the continuing row over the revision of electoral rolls.
According to sources, Mamata questioned the manner in which the SIR exercise had been conducted and described the process as “botched-up”. She also raised what she called “vote loot” through the exercise, sources said.
The TMC chief’s “Vanish Kumar” jibe was a reference to the Opposition’s allegations that voters’ names had been removed during the SIR exercise. Mamata had used the same term publicly at a rally in Hooghly on September 26, where she demanded Kumar’s removal and alleged that voters had been left out of electoral rolls.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Mamata also spoke about the political situation in West Bengal and raised concerns over what she described as the BJP’s “autocracy”. “I cannot move out of the house now,” she said, according to sources, referring to the post-poll situation.
The INDIA bloc meeting comes against the backdrop of an escalating row over the Election Commission’s functioning and the SIR process. Opposition parties have alleged irregularities in the revision exercise and have demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The meeting is expected to finalise a joint programme of protests and other political action against the SIR exercise.
The controversy intensified after a report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections on 14 occasions over a 10-month period on decisions related to the SIR process and other electoral matters.
The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that such observations amounted to a formal institutional dissent, maintaining that written objections and observations are part of decision-making within a multi-member commission.
The Opposition has also been discussing a fresh move seeking Kumar’s removal. Reports said a notice for a motion in Parliament could be taken up as part of the INDIA bloc’s strategy.
The meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and leaders of several Opposition parties. The DMK and AAP stayed away, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was not present and sent representatives.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, has maintained that the SIR process is being conducted under its constitutional mandate and has rejected allegations that the exercise is aimed at disenfranchising voters.