CEC Said 'Get Lost', Alleges TMC After Election Commission Accuses Derek O'Brien Of Misbehaving With Gyanesh Kumar

New Delhi: High drama unfolded on Wednesday after the Election Commission of India (ECI) accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien of shouting at and not letting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar speak, during their meeting at the poll panel headquarters here today.

The TMC, however, refuted the allegations and alleged that it was CEC Kumar who misbehaved with the party delegation, which had come to meet him at the ECI headquarters.

A four-member delegation of the TMC including O’Brien and Saket Gokhale arrived at the ECI after seeking time from the poll panel to raise the adjudication issue and other matters concerning West Bengal, ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.

Referring to the CEC's meeting with the TMC delegation, sources in the poll panel told ETV Bharat, "TMC MP Derek O'Brien shouted at the Chief Election Commissioner and asked him not to speak."

They claimed that the CEC requested O'Brein to maintain decorum of the Commission room. "Shouting and indecent behaviour is not appropriate," sources said quoting Kumar as saying.

The poll panel served an "ultimatum" to the TMC that this time, the elections in West Bengal would surely be fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free and without any raid, booth jamming and source jamming.

The CEC had earlier directed officials to ensure that the elections are conducted violence-free and inducement-free so that every single voter casts his/her vote without fear or favour.

Meanwhile, countering ECI's allegation against O'Brien, TMC leader Saket Gokhale said, "This is a lie. I was personally present at the meeting. Nothing like this was said. All that CEC Gyanesh Kumar said to us was get lost."

He also challenged the poll panel to release the transcript of the meeting. "We challenge the ECI to release a transcript of the meeting. Else we will do it," he wrote on X.

Derek O'Brien also levelled allegations that the CEC asked them to "get lost". Sharing what transpired in the meeting, the Parliamentarian alleged, "I want to tell you what the CEC told us within seven minutes of the meeting: 'Get Lost'. This is what the Chief Election Commissioner told the Trinamool Congress delagation. After this, we left the meeting and came out. We are the second-largest opposition party in Parliament yet this is the conduct we are met with."

Referring to their meeting with the CEC, he said, "At this short meeting, we first showed nine letters that the TMC Chairperson (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee had written to the EC, with no acknowledgement or reply from their side. We also said that if it had been Narendra Modi or Amit Shah writing those letters, the CEC would have definitely responded."

The TMC MP claimed that they gave the CEC a list of six examples of officers appointed in Bengal who have alleged proven links to the BJP. "We provided photographic evidence along with the list. These officers are being made part of the election process. We asked that these officers be transferred. We also gave the example of the CEO, who was seen with BJP workers in Nandigram. It took us just 2-3 minutes to present these examples and the memorandum. Then we told the CEC that since such tainted officers are being appointed in Bengal, how can this ensure the conduct of free and fair elections? To this, his answer was get lost," he said.

The TMC MP challenged the ECI to release the security footage of the meeting, adding that if there is no video, they should at least release the audio of what happened in the meeting today.

On the ECI's ultimatum, O'Brien said, "If the CEC can prove that he said this in the meeting, then I will provide evidence that he said nothing of the sort. The only thing the CEC said was that we were not authorized to come. The only thing he said after we spoke was get out."

"Gyanesh Kumar, you don’t know who you are playing games with.You are a criminal," he said.

Similarly, TMC leader Sagarika Ghose claimed that ECI under the current Chief Election Commissioner 'Vanish Kumar' (as referred to by Ghose) has become a "political player" and an "impact player" of Narendra Modi's regime. "If there was ANY DOUBT about whether the ECI under Vanish Kumar has become a political player, today’s 7 minute meeting with our four member AITC delegation settles it," she said in a post on X.

"When a CEC barks at MPs and shouts 'GET LOST' without answering any questions and queries it is CLEAR that the so called 'neutral umpire' is now Narendra Modi regime’s IMPACT PLAYER. Shame shame SHAME," Ghose added.

Election to 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. The counting is scheduled to take place on May 4. In 2021, Assembly elections in West Bengal was conducted in eight phases while in 2016 polls were held in seven phases.