08 April,2026 03:09 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
The meeting reportedly lasted around seven minutes. Pic/videograb/X
Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Election 2026, a meeting between a delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) ended on a tense note on Wednesday, with both sides trading allegations over the conduct of the discussion, reported the PTI.
The meeting reportedly lasted around seven minutes.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien claimed that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar asked the delegation to "get lost" at the end of the meeting.
He said the delegation had submitted letters from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and raised concerns about alleged links between some poll officials and the BJP, as per the PTI.
According to the PTI, sources within the Election Commission rejected the allegations and said the CEC had a "straight talk" with the TMC leaders.
They accused Derek O'Brien of shouting during the meeting and claimed he even asked the CEC not to speak.
O'Brien also alleged that none of the other election commissioners spoke during the interaction.
He further claimed that a member of the delegation made remarks about notices moved in Parliament regarding the CEC.
Election Commission sources said that the upcoming elections in West Bengal would be conducted in a "fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free" manner, the news agency reported.
They reiterated the panel's commitment to ensuring free and fair polls.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday filed her nomination from her native Assembly constituency of Bhabanipur in South Kolkata.
The list of proposers in her nomination form reflected the "cosmopolitan" nature of Bhabanipur, which is considered a cauldron of people from almost the entire country, reported IANS.
The proposers in her nomination form include Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim's wife, Ismat Hakim (representing the Muslims), actress-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Koel Mallick's husband, Nishpal Singh Rane (representing the Punjabis), local Trinamool Congress block President Bablu Singh (representing the Biharis) and Bhabanipur Education Society representative Miraj Shah (representing the Gujaratis).
The Chief Minister started from her residence at Harish Chatterjee Street in South Kolkata and walked down, leading a procession to submit her nomination at the Alipore Survey Building, which is barely a kilometre away from her residence.
She was accompanied while leading the procession by Firhad Hakim, her brothers Kartik Banerjee and Swapan Banerjee, her sister-in-law Kajari Banerjee, and the local party councillor, Sandip Bakshi, among others, reported IANS.
(with PTI and IANS inputs)
