TMC moves proposal to ‘impeach’ Chief Election Commissioner before West Bengal election: Read a Bengali’s perspective on how Mamata has mastered the art of political drama and public theatrics

With the West Bengal election just around the corner, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has floated a proposal to remove Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The Mamata Banerjee-led political party has received support from the likes of Congress, Samajwadi Party and other allies to bring about an impeachment motion against the CEC under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution. To this effect, TMC has secured the signatures of 120 MPs and 60 MPs on notices meant to be submitted in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, respectively. Two tools in the arsenal of Mamata Banerjee But why now? And don’t the Opposition parties, including TMC, know that this ‘impeachment motion’ will not yield any favourable result? After all, the antics of removing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla just failed a day earlier. And herein lies the electoral strategy of Mamata Banerjee, which centres around political drama and public theatrics. As a Bengali, I have seen this pan out multiple times over the political career of the TMC supremo. Whenever she felt cornered in her career or experienced a sudden stagnancy in her ambitious pursuits, Mamata knew that a public spectacle would bring back the spotlight on her. You may recall how she used election conspiracy theory and an ill-managed protest march against the CPIM to gain political clout in July 1993. And ironically, it was about making the voting process transparent. Nonetheless, street fights, public drama and a disruptive style of protests on populist issues have, after all, been her hallmark. And these have funnelled her career in the right direction, especially considering how the TMC supremo weaponised the Nandigram and Singur episodes to her advantage. Mamata was successful in convincing the local Bengalis that the economic development brought about by both these projects was somehow ‘bad’ for them. And by strategically misleading people on such political issues repeatedly, she was indeed successful in gaining power in West Bengal. The political reality of 2026 Unlike the elections of the past, Mamata Banerjee is faced with a never-before-seen resistance from the people of West Bengal. The middle-class Bengalis who once sang her praises for giving out economic handouts each month are increasingly questioning her incompetence. Raging issues such as unemployment, corruption, rampant appeasement politics, lack of safety and security for the majority Hindu community have put the TMC dispensation on the back foot in West Bengal. With no comeback in sight, Mamata is relying on her age-old strategy of political drama and public theatrics yet again. This time, she is playing on the fears and ignorance of common people in the electoral process of the country. With a well-thought-out plan, TMC is running a campaign to convince Bengalis that the Election Commission is an ‘outsider villain’ eyeing to strip them of their voting rights. At the same time, a counter strategy is employed to portray Mamata as the ‘Banglar meye’ (the daughter of Bengal) fighting for the indigenous rights against external forces. The political challenge in the run-up to the 2026 West Bengal Vidhan Sabha election is formidable. Mamata and her party cannot afford to leave anything to chance. And thus, a systematic and strategic targeting of the Election Commission of India, its CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is underway. Systematic and strategic targeting of SIR and ECI As soon as the SIR exercise was announced, Mamata Banerjee announced a ‘protest rally’ on 4th November last year with her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. She vowed to create ‘war rooms’ and asked her party members to do ‘man-to-man marking’ of BLOs. A few days later, she dubbed the SIR exercise a ‘super emergency’ and even directed the ECI to halt it completely. Mamata alleged that it was done intentionally to keep government officials busy and prevent the smooth functioning of the West Bengal government for 3 months. She also likened SIR to ‘votebandi’ and reiterated unverified claims, which linked SIR to suicides. “So many people have died, not a single condolence message by the Election Commission. You can send me to jail or cut my throat but don’t cut the name of a single genuine voter,” she alleged.In November 2025, Mamata Banerjee expressed her ‘love for Bangladesh’ while disputing the fact that the purpose of SIR is to remove Bangladeshi nationals from the electoral rolls of West Bengal. She made a bizarre claim, “If your name gets deleted, the central government should also be deleted.”The TMC supremo also warned about creating anarchy in the country over the SIR exercise in West Bengal. She threatened, “Elections were held in Bihar. Bihar opposition leaders were ‘bechara’; they couldn’t understand the BJP’s game. We understand their game, and we won’t let their game succeed in Bengal. If they try to touch Bengal, we will shake the entire country…“A month later, she assured everyone that no one would be deported to Bangladesh. Mamata Banerjee also encouraged violence against the Election Commission. She urged the women of West Bengal to fight ECI officials with ‘kitchen tools.’ The West Bengal CM laid out the strategy, “Mothers and sisters, if your names are struck off, you have the tools, right? The tools you use during cooking. You have strength, right? You won’t let it pass if your names are cut, right? The women will fight in the front, and the men will be behind them.“In December 2025, Mamata claimed that the SIR exercise was a ‘huge scam’, which was somehow being conducted with the help of artificial intelligence. She also alleged that the people of West Bengal were being ‘tortured’ for SIR.A month later, the West Bengal CM went on an unhinged tirade against the Election Commission and alleged that the election body would have deleted the name of Rabindranath Tagore from the voter list, had he been alive.She also spread animosity by claiming that the Election Commission was specially targeting the women voters in West Bengal and deleting their names from the electoral rolls through the SIR exercise. In the meantime, propaganda media portals (friendly to the TMC dispensation) attributed multiple deaths in the state to the SIR exercise. The unverified claims bore resemblance to tactics employed to create mass hysteria during the 2016 demonetisation exercise. If this was not enough, motivated political ‘activists’ alleged that the West Bengal SIR would cause the largest disenfranchisement of voters in history. To this effect, multiple petitions challenging the SIR exercise were also filed before the Supreme Court. How Gyanesh Kumar is becoming the eyesore for the TMC The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal has rattled the TMC ecosystem, starting from the party’s Supreme Leader to the hooligan at the grassroots level. And the outcome is rather expected. The Election Commission of India deleted a whopping 58,20,899 names from the electoral rolls of the State on account of death, absence, shift, and duplication. At the same time, a list of 60 lakh ‘doubtful voters’ has been finalised, and their status is now being adjudicated by judicial officers. This certainly creates hurdles for the ruling Mamata government. In the good old days, Bangladeshi citizens could contest the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha election on a TMC ticket. Bangladeshi nationals, close to the party, could reside and vote in West Bengal. Illegal Bangladeshi nationals even had the opportunity to avail ‘Imam bhata‘ and show allegiance by casting a vote in favour of the government. In the past, TMC netas have gone on record, promising to help Bangladeshis get voting rights in West Bengal. The SIR has inevitably decimated these nefarious plans of the ruling dispensation. It doesn’t need a genius to understand why the man at the helm of affairs, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, has suddenly become an eyesore for the TMC. And it is not limited to the SIR alone. Recently, during a press conference, Kumar informed that 100% webcasting will be done at all polling stations in West Bengal. This automatically disrupts the sinister agenda of local TMC goons to capture polling booths or steal ballots. The Chief Election Commissioner did not mince words when assuring a violence-free election in a State, which is infamous for political killings. “No violence will be tolerated. There will be mandatory, absolute non-partisan conduct by every polling personnel throughout the entire election process,” he made it crystal clear This reminds me of a popular Bengali proverb ‘যত দোষ নন্দ ঘোষ’, which roughly translates to ‘All fault lies with Nanda Ghosh.’ Gyanesh Kumar is the sacrificial ‘Nanda Ghosh’ of Bengal whom the TMC loves to blame for derailing the party’s potential election malpractices and putting a stop to its culture of violence and intimidation. The final gambit Given the abrupt cessation of possible fraudulent practices, the TMC has launched its offensive against the Election Commission and the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. Weaponising political drama and public theatrics ahead of the West Bengal election, Mamata Banerjee announced a sit-in protest on 6th March at Kolkata’s Esplanade to protest the deletion of illegal voters from the electoral rolls. During the demonstration, her party members made outrageous remarks in a desperate attempt to guilt-trip the average Bengali voter. TMC MP Mahua Moitra brazened out, “I am telling everyone that you cannot be a Bengali if you don’t support TMC. Those who don’t support TMC have no right to identify as a Bengali.” If this was not enough, Mamata Banerjee took the matter into her own hands and delivered a chilling warning – “We exist, that is why all of you are safe. If we were not here, when a certain community comes together as a group and surrounds you, they would finish you off in one second,” she cautioned. After putting up the drama for about 114 hours, the TMC supremo called off her ‘dharna’ and proclaimed it a ‘success.’ Having realised that it had no bearing on SIR, she attempted to create a new public spectacle – An attempt to ‘impeach’ CEC Gyanesh Kumar, knowing well that it would be in vain. Conclusion As a Bengali, I am habituated to her political antics. There is nothing that can truly surprise me. After all, this has been her playbook all along. But we must never make the mistake of underestimating Mamata Banerjee. She may get miraculously ‘hurt’ just before the election, as was witnessed during the 2021 Vidhan Sabha and 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A wheelchair bound TMC supremo may emerge before the public, dogwhitsling with slogans such as ‘Khela Hobe’ and pitting Bengalis against so-called ‘outsiders’. But, we must call out her bluff! The ‘silent’ majority must pledge to change the political fate of West Bengal and put an end to the reign of political drama and public theatrics in the State, once and for all.