A demonstration organised by the Trinamool Congress took place in Kolkata, West Bengal, on Tuesday, directed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India. Demonstrators affiliated with the TMC raised slogans including "Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor" at the gathering.
Party representative Kunal Ghosh, speaking to a television news outlet during the event, alleged that authorities had moved to suppress what he characterised as a peaceful demonstration by positioning police and central forces at various locations across Kolkata. Ghosh stated that youth and student wing members, acting under Mamata Banerjee's direction, had assembled at the venue for what the party described as an entirely non-confrontational event directed at CEC Gyanesh Kumar, though security forces positioned themselves along access routes in a manner that kept attendees from converging on the site.
A written notice to police had been sent by email beforehand. Ghosh told a prominent news outlet that, from that morning onward, law enforcement and central forces had placed the full length of the route under a blockade.
A TMC spokesperson stated that party members travelling toward the rally site ran into blockades at several locations throughout the city, and that those attempting to reach the venue were being turned away in both North and Central Kolkata. Organisers characterised the effort as peaceful in its approach.
Ghosh stated that the group was raising its voice in opposition to Gyanesh Kumar, adding that the BJP appeared to be troubled by that stance. A Trinamool Congress representative put forward the claim that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had altered vote tallies in ways that favoured the BJP.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking separately on Monday, urged that elections be held on the basis of existing voter rolls until all those entitled to participate have been added to them — a stance she advanced as multiple opposition parties continued to voice concerns about what they described as irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision process conducted under Kumar's oversight. Addressing reporters, Banerjee expressed the view that voter rolls ought to include only those whose eligibility has been verified.
Rahul Gandhi joined INDIA bloc leaders and supporters in a march along Barakhamba Road toward the Supreme Court of India on Monday, with participants raising concerns about what they described as irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. One voice in the crowd stated that the existing voter list should remain in use for any upcoming election, provided certain names were not removed from it. A petition was brought before the country's highest court by the group of leaders.
