Mahua Moitra Slams CEC: ‘Don’t Assume Our IQ Is Like BJP Cadre’

Mahua Moitra, Member of Parliament from Krishnanagar representing the All India Trinamool Congress, released a strong response on Sunday to the press conference held earlier in the day by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Moitra described the CEC's statements as "absolutely ludicrous" and highlighted what she called glaring inconsistencies regarding the electoral rolls in Bihar.

Moitra particularly criticized two claims made by the Election Commission during the briefing. First, the CEC stated that there were 22,000 dead voters on the electoral rolls in Bihar who had not been removed from records. Moitra countered this, arguing that these deaths had occurred over several years, not just recently, and insisted that repeated revisions of the voter list in Bihar, including the last one in April 2025, should have caught and corrected such discrepancies.

"The entire Election Commission, including yourself and every Chief Election Commissioner before you, should be held accountable for dereliction of duty and for subverting free and fair elections," Moitra said. "You were in your seat, Mr. Kumar. Your office was responsible for ensuring accurate voter rolls. Who else but the Election Commission should be blamed for these errors?"

Moitra also criticized the CEC for implying that opposition parties were spreading misinformation and urged the commission to facilitate transparency. She pointed out that political parties were being asked to file claims and objections regarding the draft electoral rolls, but that the process was practically impossible because the names of 65,000 voters who had allegedly been deleted were not made public until the Supreme Court intervened.

"Till we went to court and the Supreme Court directed transparency, we did not even know who these 65,000 voters were. How could objections be filed if the affected voters themselves did not know they were missing?" Moitra questioned.

She concluded her statement by urging the CEC to stop spreading misinformation and accused the commission of acting as a "puppet in the hands of the BJP," adding, "Hon'ble CEC Gyanesh Kumar - Sir - please don't assume our average IQ is the same as that of the BJP cadre. It is absolutely shameful."

The statement marks a strong confrontation between the Trinamool Congress and the Election Commission, raising questions over voter roll accuracy and transparency ahead of the upcoming elections.