Kolkata, March 6 TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee sparked a political controversy on Friday after saying he would have "cut off the finger" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar if the latter had not been holding the constitutional post, alleging that the election panel chief had behaved "very badly" with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The senior TMC leader and lawyer made the remarks while addressing supporters at a rally in Kolkata during protests by the ruling party against alleged arbitrary deletions in the electoral rolls following the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Referring to an alleged exchange between Kumar and Banerjee last month when the CM had gone to New Delhi to meet him and register her protest against SIR, the Serampore MP said, "The CEC behaved very badly with her. He even dared to point at the CM. If he had not been the CEC, I would have cut his finger that day."
His comment drew sharp reactions from political circles, with opposition leaders criticizing the language used against a constitutional authority.
"The remarks reflect the mindset of the TMC, which has no regard for democracy or constitutional institutions," BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
Kalyan Banerjee has been among the most vocal critics of the Election Commission over the recent revision of voter lists in the state ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections.
On March 1, the TMC leader raised concerns over delays in adjudicating cases linked to the voter list revision, claiming that lakhs of matters remain pending despite directions from the Supreme Court.
The protest marks a sharp political escalation by the ruling party, days after the poll panel published the post-SIR electoral rolls, which have significantly altered the contours of the state's electorate.
According to official data released on February 28, as many as 63.66 lakh names – around 8.3 per cent of the electorate – have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the "under adjudication" category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks, a process that could further reshape constituency-level electoral equations.