Former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: Former CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday demanded fresh elections in Bengal and all other states that have held polls since the SIR began in 2025, using the old electoral rolls. Claiming that 92 lakh voters’ names had been deleted in SIR, she went on to say, “After the polls, EVMs stored at Alipore were destroyed in a fire in a building where the first three floors were completely unaffected, but the fire managed to damage the specific floor housing the machines.
She also demanded the arrest of CEC Gyanesh Kumar alongside EC director general of IT Seema Khanna, calling them “agents of BJP”. In her Facebook Live message, Mamata said, “It has now been proven that BJP and EC had looted the Bengal assembly polls. BJP must stop destroying democracy,” Mamata said, adding, “We want a new election using the old voters’ list. They then rigged the count by throwing our agents out of the counting centres. ” Responding to the allegations, Bengal BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “This issue pertains to the chief election commissioner and two election commissioners.
With MK Stalin, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav also referring to Bengal SIR, Mamata called for a united opposition move against the CEC. “He (Kumar) has no moral authority to continue. He must be arrested. EROs must face action. You snatched our democratic right to vote. A ghotala this massive has never happened before. Our party’s counting agents were arrested two days before counting. If anyone has an objection, it can be made on specific forums. The EC is an autonomous body. By making statements, we will not be making much difference.”