Mamata in Delhi to participate in INDIA bloc meetings, Suvendu
Our target is the Chief Election Commissioner and his full software team, who cheated and betrayed the people, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said
Source: The Hindu Feed · September 30, 2026 at 12:32 AM · AI-assisted report
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NEW DELHI, 30 SEPTEMBER 2026 —
Former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday to participate in a meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc, declaring that the alliance's target is Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and his "full software team, who cheated and betrayed the people." Banerjee, accompanied by MPs Dola Sen and Kalyan Banerjee, told media persons in the capital that she has been referring to Kumar as "Vanish Kumar."
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The visit follows outreach from Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M. A. Baby, who contacted Banerjee to forge unity among opposition parties on the special, intensive revision of electoral rolls and the role of the Chief Election Commissioner. Banerjee said she has also held talks with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and stated in a public meeting that she is ready to ally with any party on the issue involving the Chief Election Commissioner.
"There is a meeting of the INDIA alliance... We have come to participate," she said.
West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari dismissed the INDIA bloc as "finished" and accused Banerjee of travelling to Delhi to hold a "planning session with Dimagi Naxals." Speaking to media persons in Kolkata, Adhikari said he would ask the Delhi Police and the central Intelligence Bureau to keep a watch on the proceedings. "One who gives azadi slogans, everyone knows what she can do.
One has to see whether she holds meetings with anti-India forces. She is now the advisor for Dimagi Naxals," he said.
Adhikari also criticised the emerging cooperation between the Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M), long-standing arch-rivals in West Bengal politics. The CPI(M)'s initiative to coordinate with Banerjee on the electoral rolls revision marks a significant shift in the state's political landscape, where the two parties have been bitter opponents for decades.
Banerjee's focus on the Chief Election Commissioner centres on allegations concerning the integrity of the electoral roll revision process. Her characterisation of Kumar's team as having "cheated and betrayed the people" escalates the opposition's confrontation with the Election Commission. The reference to "Vanish Kumar" underscores the personal nature of the attack on the constitutional authority.
The INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi represents an attempt to translate state-level coordination on the electoral rolls issue into a national opposition strategy. Banerjee's willingness to ally with "any party" on the CEC issue signals a pragmatic approach to building a broader front, despite ideological differences with the Left parties.
Adhikari's demand for surveillance by central agencies introduces a security dimension to the political dispute. His characterisation of opposition figures as "Dimagi Naxals" and potential links to "anti-India forces" frames the INDIA bloc's deliberations as a matter of internal security rather than democratic politics.
The convergence of Trinamool and CPI(M) positions on the Election Commission, facilitated by M. A. Baby's outreach, remains the most concrete development emerging from Banerjee's Delhi visit. The two parties' ability to sustain this coordination beyond the immediate issue of electoral rolls will determine whether the INDIA bloc can present a united front on institutional accountability.