Mamata Banerjee blames EC for 'failing to protect' judicial officers gheraoed over voter name deletion

Claiming that the EC posted its own officers in civil and police administration after announcement of assembly polls in the state, Banerjee accused the poll body of having "totally failed to control law and order".

Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Election Commission of India of “failing to protect” judicial officers involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Malda.

Her remarks came after seven judicial officers engaged in the revision process were rescued by security personnel on Wednesday. The officials had been gheraoed for hours by protesters angered over the deletion of names from electoral rolls.

Addressing a rally in Murshidabad, Banerjee said, “I condemn the Election Commission for failing to protect the judicial officers,” according to PTI.

She further alleged that after the announcement of Assembly elections, the poll body installed its own officials within the state’s civil and police administration, and claimed it had “totally failed to control law and order,” added the report.

Several top bureaucrats, including the chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police, were replaced in the state following the poll announcement.

“All my powers have been taken away, I have never seen such an Election Commission,” she said.

The chief minister also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to derail the electoral process in the state. “There are communal people in the BJP, and some communal people have also entered your ranks,” she told the gathering.

Banerjee further alleged that individuals had been brought in from Hyderabad with financial backing from the BJP to divide Muslim votes, claiming it was part of a broader strategy to get the Assembly polls cancelled in West Bengal and impose President’s Rule.