Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress party issued a sharp response to the Election Commission of India, urging that the West Bengal Assembly elections should be conducted free from Delhi's control, free from political bias, free from selective targeting, and free from double standards.
In a post on X, the TMC said that their “straight talk” to ECI and in a “straightforward manner.”
আমরাও নির্বাচন কমিশনকে সোজা কথা সোজাভাবেই বলছি।
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 8, 2026
এবারের নির্বাচন হতে হবে:
দিল্লির নিয়ন্ত্রণমুক্ত,
রাজনৈতিক পক্ষপাতহীন,
উদ্দেশ্যপ্রণোদিতভাবে কাউকে নিশানা করা থেকে মুক্ত
এবং অবশ্যই দ্বিচারিতামুক্ত।
Our straight-talk to @ECISVEEP.
This time, the Elections must be:
Free from… pic.twitter.com/TpWxZv5yWr
“Our straight talk to ECI: 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 said.
The statement follows a meeting between the TMC delegation and the ECI. The meeting turned into tense with TMC MP Derek O'Brien alleging that the Chief Election Commissioner asked them to leave within five minutes.
He also challenged the Commission to release video or audio of the meeting.Addressing a press conference, O'Brien said, "Today, we went to the Chief Election Commissioner. He told us 'get lost' within 7 minutes of the meeting. The meeting started at 10:02 AM and ended at 10:07 AM... When we told him that you are transferring officials, and how you would want to conduct a free and fair election? And then he said, leave from here... What I saw today is a shame. I challenge the Election Commission to release the video or audio of what happened today."
"One of our colleagues congratulated him on being the only CEC in India to have notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to be removed, and on that issue, today, all like-minded anti-BJP parties together are having a press conference at 4-4:30 in the evening," he said.
Meanwhile, as per the Election Commission Officials, Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) Gyanesh Kumar requested TMC MP Derek O'Brien to maintain decorum, stating that shouting and inappropriate behaviour are unacceptable in the Commission's premises.
Earlier today, ECI affirmed that the 2026 State Assembly elections will be free from fear and violence. In a post on X, ECI said, "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 ECI reiterated that polling for the 294-member Assembly would be conducted without fear or violence. In an X post, it added: “ECI’s straight talk to Trinamool Congress: This time, the elections in West Bengal will surely be fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free, and without any raid, booth jamming, or source jamming.”
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal criticised the ECI’s post, and alleged that the ECI is taking direct instructions from the BJP.
“Now there’s no need to even say that the Election Commission is working under BJP and taking direct instructions from BJP. This is now out in the open and extremely unfortunate. At the very least, by tweeting in such language, don’t publicly tarnish the reputation of such an important institution,” Kejriwal said in a post on X.
Polling in West Bengal will take place in two phases, on 23 and 29 April, with vote counting scheduled for 4 May.
