Mamata Banerjee Accuses ECI of Bias After BJP Seal Appears on Kerala Poll Document, Says 'Cat is Out of the Bag'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), claiming that a controversial notification issued by the Kerala Chief Electoral Officer’s office - which carried the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) official seal - has exposed the poll body’s alleged lack of impartiality. Banerjee described the incident as proof that the ECI is operating under BJP influence, while also drawing attention to the widespread harassment faced by voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Speaking to reporters at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport before heading to northern part of Bengal to begin election campaigning, Banerjee held up a newspaper clipping of the Kerala document and declared, “I want to show something that proves ECI is not impartial. The cat is out of the bag.”

She pointed out that the communication, which sought clarification on guidelines related to the publication of candidates’ criminal antecedents, was not limited to Kerala but referenced all states and Union Territories. “Now the cat is out of the bag. The EC’s notification clearly carries the BJP’s symbol,” Banerjee said, rejecting the Kerala CEO’s explanation that the BJP seal was a “clerical error” stemming from an oversight in redistributing a 2019 document submitted by the party.

The Trinamool Congress supremo went further, alleging that the incident reveals who is actually directing the ECI. “It is now clear from this BJP rubber stamp on EC notification who is running the commission from behind,” she asserted. Banerjee once again described the poll panel as functioning like a “BJP team,” accusing it of lacking transparency and working to undermine democratic processes.

In the same breath, the Chief Minister highlighted the difficulties ordinary citizens have encountered due to the ongoing SIR adjudication process across states, particularly in West Bengal. She claimed that many genuine voters have been subjected to harassment, with names arbitrarily placed under “adjudication,” leading to fear, confusion, and in some cases severe distress. “This ECI-BJP nexus wants to take away people’s voting rights,” Banerjee said, criticising the lack of transparency in how the revision exercise is being conducted.

The controversy erupted on Monday when the CPI(M) shared images of the Kerala CEO’s letter online, prompting opposition parties to question the ECI’s neutrality just weeks before assembly polls in the southern state. The Kerala CEO’s office maintained that the matter was an inadvertent lapse and promptly suspended an assistant section officer, insisting the guidelines themselves had been updated since 2019 and properly communicated earlier.

Banerjee, however, dismissed such clarifications as insufficient. She called upon all political parties to unite against what she termed “one-sided dictatorship” and urged voters to remain vigilant. “ It is time for all parties to come together. This is not the time to look left or right, this is the time to save the country. I don’t want parties to come together to help me politically, but they should stand by the people. BJP is endangering the very fabric of the constitution”, she added. Her remarks come amid heightened political tensions in West Bengal ahead of the state assembly elections, where the Trinamool Congress has repeatedly accused the ECI of bias in voter list revisions and official transfers.