CEC’s ‘Get Lost’, O’Brien’s ‘Shouting’: Inside the TMC-EC Clash That Rocked Poll Preparations

Tensions between the Trinamool Congress and the Election Commission of India hit a new low on Wednesday after a pre-election meeting between the two sides collapsed into a bitter public dispute, with each accusing the other of misconduct.

A four-member TMC delegation Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien, deputy leader Sagarika Ghose, and MPs Saket Gokhale and Menaka Guruswamy met the full Election Commission bench, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, at 10 am.

What TMC Claims Happened

O’Brien said the delegation submitted nine letters written by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to CEC Gyanesh Kumar letters he claimed have gone unacknowledged. The team also raised specific instances of alleged links between certain poll officials and the BJP, demanding their transfer.

Then, according to O’Brien, the meeting turned ugly. “Then he said, ‘Get lost’. We have done eight to nine meetings with the Election Commission. Apart from the CEC, none of the other election commissioners spoke,” he said.

What the Election Commission Says

EC sources told PTI an entirely different story. According to them, it was O’Brien who lost his composure shouting at commissioners from the moment the delegation entered the room. “The CEC requested Derek O’Brien to maintain decorum in the commission room. Shouting and indecent behaviour are not appropriate,” EC sources said, per PTI.

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Sources added that the CEC immediately flagged the absence of the TMC’s authorised representative, prompting O’Brien to ask whether that meant they were “unauthorised” and should leave.

The EC, in a post on X, said it gave the delegation a “straight-talk,” warning that West Bengal elections would be “fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free and without any ‘chappa, booth-jamming and source-jamming.'”

Mamata Threatens Legal Action Over Voter Deletions

Separately, Chief Minister Banerjee announced the TMC would approach court again to challenge the deletion of nearly 91 lakh voters from electoral rolls following the Summary Intensive Revision process. “You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names,” she said. West Bengal assembly elections are scheduled for April 23 and 29, with vote counting on May 4.