BJP state chief sticks to his stance on CEC, asks for BLOs’ security
The Statesman | 1 December 2025
State BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya remained firm on his earlier remark on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. On Saturday evening, while attending the Parivartan Sankalp Sabha held at Girja Mor on GT Road, Asansol (organised by the BJP’s Asansol organisational district), he reiterated his position.
He said: “I have not raised any concerns about the role of the Election Commission of India (ECI). What I have publicly said, and what the BJP has also stated, is that SIR is ongoing. It is a constitutional process. It is the responsibility of the Election Commission. BLOs are being attacked in many areas. BLOs are being pressured. They are taken to panchayat offices, clubhouses, party offices, surrounded, their husbands attacked, and in some cases, at gunpoint, false statements are being uploaded.”
He added, “It is the election commission’s responsibility to ensure the safety of BLOs. Today, I heard that 12 officers have been sent. But sitting in Delhi will not work. We demand that Gyanesh Kumar must come to Kolkata.
“There is a fundamental difference between the politics of West Bengal and the rest of India. After the 2021 Assembly elections, 56 workers were killed in 27 days. In Bihar, Haryana and Delhi, elections were conducted without any such incidents. There were no complaints from the Opposition, no rigging, no mass rapes. People in those states either changed the government or kept them in power.”
He further said: “We have submitted a list of 13,25,000 voters to the Election Commission of India. Our workers are working. We will get more names. The draft voter list will be published on 9 December. Then you can calculate. I never mentioned any numbers. I don’t have a parrot to predict. But let me make one thing very clear: even if SIR stops today, even if the ED, CBI, Income Tax and other agencies are locked out, and elections are held based on the 2025 voter list — even then the TMC will lose.”
Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP has already begun campaigning to ensure victory. To strengthen its organisation, the party is working continuously in every district of Bengal. As part of this initiative, ‘Parivartan Sankalp Yatra’ and meetings are being held across the state, and a similar meeting was organised in Asansol today.
At the Girja Mor gathering state BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya was present as the main speaker. Addressing the meeting, he said that a large number of people joined the BJP today, led by Asansol’s Krishna Prasad, advocate Ananda Gopal Mukhopadhyay, and Barabani’s Sujit Mandal.
He also strongly criticised the ruling TMC over SIR. He said, “We often see that during elections, someone’s deceased father or mother comes to vote. This is magic found only during elections in Bengal. SIR is being conducted to stop such irregularities.”
Among others present were Kulti MLA Dr Ajay Poddar, former MLA Jitendra Tiwari, Pawan Singh and other district leaders.