Cat is out of the bag; Proves BJP pulling strings, says Mamata

Kolkata: Criticising the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the controversy surrounding a purported BJP rubber stamp on its official communique, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed the incident laid bare the “not impartial” nature of the poll body and exposed how the saffron party was pulling its strings from behind the scenes.

Before flying to North Bengal, Banerjee at Kolkata airport questioned the poll panel’s impartiality in conducting the elections and urged all parties to unite and fight the ECI-backed attempt to impose one-party rule in India. Controversy erupted on Monday after a March 2019 letter from the ECI was found carrying the seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit.

“It is now clear from this BJP rubber stamp on the ECI notification who is running the commission from behind. The cat is out of the bag,” Banerjee told reporters before boarding a flight to Bagdogra in North Bengal.

She also showed a newspaper report to back her claims of the poll panel’s “lack of neutrality” in conducting the Assembly elections. “There’s no need to play your games from behind the curtains. Come out in the open and fight us face to face,” Banerjee said without naming the ECI.

After the matter surfaced, the ECI on Monday issued an official clarification claiming it as a clerical error. It said that the BJP submitted a document bearing the party seal as part of a clarification requested regarding the 2019 guidelines on the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates. Due to an oversight by the office, the same document was sent to other parties for the same clarification, the poll body claimed.

Mamata, however, overruled the possibility of clerical error. She said: “This is being said that it’s a clerical mistake. Is it a clerical mistake or political agenda?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter if opposition parties belong to the Right or Left ideologies. I request them to come together and protest the ECI-backed one-party rule, save democracy in the country and ensure free and fair polls,” she stated.

Questioning the ECI’s midnight hour publication of the first supplementary list late on Monday, Banerjee alleged that even hours later, people do not know whether they are included in the rolls or deleted from it because hard copies of the list are yet to be put up at district, block or booth offices.

“The ECI reshuffled 73 returning officers of the state on Monday. Earlier, they transferred some 70 top IAS and IPS officers of Bengal, including the chief secretary, home secretary, the DGP and Kolkata CP. And now we know which party is pulling strings from behind. Two more people died by suicide on Monday, taking the total SIR-induced death toll to nearly 220,” she said and claimed that names were added to the rolls as a fallout of her petition in the Supreme Court.

Hinting at possible foul play over publication of the rolls, she asked: “Why are they so apprehensive about publishing the rolls? Surely because the ECI lacks transparency. Else, why had they taken so long to put the list out when the judicial officers completed the task of finalising the (first supplementary) rolls almost a week ago? Have you deleted more names?” She also alleged that the ECI’s move to transfer the Nandigram BDO — an officer she indirectly claimed was close to Suvendu Adhikari — to Bhowanipore.

Meanwhile, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also raised serious concerns over the neutrality of the poll body. Questioning the credibility of the poll body, Banerjee claimed the move reflects a growing pattern of institutional bias ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. He warned that such developments could undermine democratic processes, particularly in relation to voter list revisions, which he alleged may be used to selectively include or exclude voters.

“This is precisely why judicial authority was diluted, and the Chief Justice of India was removed from the CEC selection panel. If this trajectory continues, it won’t be long before Supreme Court judgments appear politically stamped,” he said.

He added: “Those sworn to protect the Constitution are now chipping away at its very foundations to serve narrow political ends — a betrayal of both duty and democracy. What a troubling decline for our institutions!”