Panihati, September 25, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Friday backed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid the political dispute over the Election Commission’s functioning, saying the CEC “at least deserves a Padma Bhushan” for his role in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Speaking to reporters in Panihati near Kolkata, Bhattacharya also criticised Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who had questioned the functioning of the Election Commission and called on Kumar to resign.
“The fact is, even the Congress party itself doesn’t heed Rahul Gandhi’s words; they don’t take him seriously,” Bhattacharya said.
“Gyanesh Kumar deserves, at the very least, the Padma Bhushan. The people of West Bengal are delighted that, after so long, intimidation was kept at bay. There were no incidents of murder, and people were actually allowed to cast their votes,” he said.
The Padma Bhushan is India’s third-highest civilian award.
Bhattacharya also credited Kumar with the SIR exercise and claimed it had helped remove the names of alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators from West Bengal’s electoral rolls. “In a border state like this, Gyanesh Kumar took the initiative to remove the names of Bangladeshi infiltrators from the voter lists,” he said.
He further claimed that West Bengal had rarely witnessed an election like the recent Assembly polls and said the state’s people supported the CEC.
Bhattacharya’s remarks came amid renewed controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission. An Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions concerning electoral-roll management and related matters.
The Election Commission, however, said all decisions, including those related to SIR, had the approval of all three commissioners and described the reported objections as part of its internal decision-making process.
Opposition parties have demanded action against Kumar, while protests seeking his resignation have been held in several states. The political dispute has also widened following demands for accountability over the reported internal differences within the poll panel.
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