West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC) accused the BJP and the Election Commission of India of attempting to cancel her candidacy in Bhabanipur.
These allegations suggest a deepening conflict between the state government and national electoral authorities. If the claims of mass voter deletion are proven, it could trigger legal challenges that delay the assembly election schedule or undermine the perceived legitimacy of the results.
Banerjee said the BJP, with support from the Election Commission, tried to cancel her candidature from the Bhabanipur constituency [1]. She said the Election Commission's recent ultimatum was a lie and an attempt to intimidate her and her party [2].
During a poll rally in West Bengal, the Chief Minister focused on the scale of electoral roll changes. She said the Election Commission deleted over 90.83 lakh names from the voter list [3]. This represents approximately 11.85% of the total voter roll size in West Bengal, which stands at 7.66 crore [3].
Banerjee said she feels like practicing law again in response to these developments. She vowed to move the court to challenge the deletions that occurred in October 2025 [3].
The Chief Minister said these actions are part of a coordinated effort to manipulate the election outcome by invalidating her candidacy and removing eligible voters from the rolls [1, 3]. The BJP and the Election Commission have not provided a formal rebuttal to these specific claims in the reported statements.
“BJP, with support from the Election Commission, tried to cancel my candidature from the Bhabanipur constituency.”
The conflict reflects a broader tension in Indian politics where state leaders frequently accuse the Election Commission of bias toward the ruling national party. By citing a specific deletion rate of nearly 12% of the electorate, Banerjee is shifting the narrative from a personal political attack to a systemic challenge regarding voter disenfranchisement, which may lead to judicial intervention in the 2026 assembly elections.
