'Fear-free vs bias-free': ECI-TMC meeting ends with bitter exchanges ahead of West Bengal polls

ECI officials said that TMC leader Derek O’Brien raised his voice at ECI and even asked CEC Gyanesh Kumar not to speak.

A meeting between a four-member Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation with chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi on Wednesday sparked a charged confrontation with an unprecedented attack by the poll panel and a sharp response by the political party.

TMC's Derek O'Brien alleged that "the chief election commissioner told us within seven minutes of the meeting to ‘get lost’". (ANI/HT)

The delegation comprised Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Menaka Guruswamy, and party spokesperson Saket Gokhale, and they presented a memorandum demanding neutrality from officials involved in the electoral process.

The meeting turned heated almost immediately. Minutes after the delegation left, ECI posted on its official X handle: “ECI’s Straight-talk to Trinamool Congress. This time, the Elections in West Bengal would surely be: Fear-free, Violence-free, Intimidation-free, Inducement-free and without any Raid, Booth Jamming and Source Jamming.” The post was made in both English and Hindi.

The TMC hit back sharply. “Our straight-talk to @ECISVEEP. This time, the Elections must be: Free from Delhi’s control. Free from political bias, Free from selective targeting, And free from double standards,” the party posted on X.

O’Brien’s said the meeting lasted minutes. “The chief election commissioner told us within seven minutes of the meeting to ‘get lost’...the meeting started at 10:02 AM and ended at 10:07am. What I saw today is a shame. I challenge the Election Commissioner to release the video or audio of what happened today,” he said.

Senior ECI officials, however, said Kumar requested O’Brien to maintain the decorum of the commission room, stating that shouting and indecent behaviour were not appropriate. Officials said O’Brien raised his voice at ECI and even asked the CEC not to speak.

The meeting came a day after ECI deleted nearly nine million names as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) in Bengal. Of the six million cases placed under a controversial “logical discrepancy” category, around 2.71 million were found ineligible.

Ghose questioned how genuine voters could be restored. “If they have been deleted and have to appeal to a tribunal with freezing of electoral rolls for the first phase, how will a genuine voter be included in the list?”

West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.