Impeachment against CEC in next Parl session: Abhishek
The Statesman | 19 August 2025
Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamul Congress national general secretary said the Election Commission of India is not impartial and is working at the behest of the BJP.
“The fight against the ECI will continue, both inside and outside the Parliament. If the name of a single genuine voter is deleted, one lakh people will gherao the office of the Election Commission’s office in Delhi,” Mr Banerjee said. He was talking to the press outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport this morning.
Abhishek said that at yesterday’s press conference by the Election Commission (ECI), the questions posed by members of the INDIA bloc were not answered properly. Instead, the Commission deflected and tried to pin the blame on the opposition parties. If you look at the guidelines of the ECI, you will see that no affidavits are required. If there are errors in the electoral rolls, then the ERO of the ECI can take suo motu cognisance and investigate.
He alleged that the Election Commission of India had failed to answer the questions raised by the opposition parties. “The ECI said that the political parties should file affidavit regarding the voter’s list. It is the responsibility of the ECI to publish the voter list. If the name of a dead voter is not deleted, it is the responsibility of the ECI, not of the political parties. If the ECI feels that the voter list of 2024 is faulty, then the entire cabinet at the centre should resign and there should be fresh election. We are not scared to face the election but the BJP is and so has not accepted the demand of the opposition parties.”
He said in the next session of the Parliament, impeachment against the chief election commissioner will be brought. He reiterated that if the voter list of 2024 is faulty, the ECI should file FIR against the former CEC and action be taken against him,” Mr Banerjee said, adding, “ECI is not impartial and has become the party office of the BJP.”
On the allegations by BJP’s Anurag Thakur on Diamond Harbour constituency about many electors in a single booth, Abhishek said, “Out of the 47, I showed evidence of 41 electors who clearly exist, while 6 others had either moved away after marriage or had died. I recorded their statements and sent the evidence to Mr Thakur in a pen drive to his residence.
Mr Banerjee said a 17 member delegation of MPs met the minister of the Jal Shakti this afternoon. He alleged that the Centre has not paid dues worth Rs 1.94 lakh crore to Bengal. “We have repeatedly requested the Centre to publish white paper regarding the unpaid dues. But the Centre has not listened to us and the amount of dues is going up. It has not paid dues regarding 100 days’ work, rural houses and drinking water. The Constitution stipulated that the Centre should pay 50 per cent and the remaining 50 per cent to be paid by the state government. The Centre has not discharged its duties.”
He said it is unfortunate that the Centre has moved the Supreme Court against the high court order to clear the dues of 100 days’ work by 1 August. “It is because of this, we call the BJP anti-poor and anti-people party.”