Mamata promises opposition unity over demands to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee with party MP Dola Sen and others during a public rally at Serampore Court Maidan in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on September 26, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI

Amid calls for opposition unity over demands for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (September 26, 2026) said she would support any party irrespective of political colors as long as there is a common cause for the people.

At a public meeting in Serampore in Hooghly district, All India Trinamool Congress President Mamata said that the INDIA block will hold a meeting in New Delhi on September 30.

Also Read: Congress Holds Nationwide Protests For CEC Resignation

Ms Banerjee said Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary MA Baby had written to her about the opposition’s broader unity against the Chief Election Commissioner and that she agreed with the proposal. “Mr. Baby wrote to me. He said we think it’s a big issue. Let’s sit together…I immediately said, ‘Yes, I agree with you. Let’s sit together for a discussion,'” the former chief minister said.

Ms. Banerjee said that after speaking to Mr. Baba, she also spoke to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and they are all set to hold a meeting in the state capital next week. She added that a number of regional parties may also join the negotiations.

“Whoever is fighting for this cause (SIR/voting rights), we will not see any party or colour, we will see an issue, if it is for the people, we will support them,” Banerjee said from a rally in Serampore in Hooghly district, just outside Kolkata. She said opposition parties will fight together for free and fair elections regardless of their party colour.

An approaching storm

Ms. Banerjee said that at this point the entire nation is united against the issue of CEC’s conduct and that Mr. Kumar’s days are now numbered. “There is a storm in the country, there is a storm in Delhi. To save our democracy, they will be washed away in this storm,” said a top Trinamool party official.

She added that holding Mr. Kumar accountable was important, but the people behind him must also be brought to justice. Ms. Banerjee has been targeting the Election Commission chief since the start of the Special Intensive Exercise (SIR) in the state in 2025.

She also repeatedly targeted Mr Kumar during the campaign for the state assembly elections, calling him ‘Vanish Kumar’, alleging that he was responsible for erasing the names of thousands of voters “Vanish Kumar must go. Our movement will continue till he resigns,” she said.

Despite political differences, concerns over the SIR process, electoral rights and the opposition’s demand for accountability on behalf of the Chief Election Commissioner, especially amid reports that two other election commissioners are not on the same page, have brought together Mamata’s AITC, the CPI(M) and the Congress.

Published – 26 Sep 2026 18:54 IST