States » EastPosted at: Oct 6 2026 11:00PM


Fight to defend democracy must be taken to the streets: CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya

Kolkata, Oct 6 (UNI) CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Tuesday called for a sustained street movement to “defend democracy” in the country and West Bengal, alleging that democratic institutions and electoral rights were under attack.
Addressing a press conference here, he said people would have to come out on the streets and intensify the struggle to safeguard democracy. The press conference was also attended by AISA national president Neha Bora, CPI(ML) Liberation state secretary Abhijit Majumdar, Basudeb Basu and politburo member Kartik Pal, among others.
Referring to the by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar, Bhattacharya alleged that the polling process had witnessed unprecedented “police terror”.
“I have never seen a by-election conducted amid such police terror. SIR has been used to carry out a peaceful genocide. The election has turned into a farce,” he said.
Complaints regarding the two by-elections began emerging from the morning, with voters alleging that the police and administration were being used to facilitate electoral malpractice.
On the controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Bhattacharya demanded his resignation and the repeal of the law under which he was appointed. He also demanded that the SIR of electoral rolls be scrapped.
He alleged that, under pressure, Booth Level Officers were being directed to visit households to restore names excluded from electoral rolls. “We saw in Bihar that 17 per cent of the people were unfairly excluded from the electoral rolls,” he claimed.
“Our demands are clear — Gyanesh Kumar must resign, SIR must be withdrawn and the law governing the appointment of election commissioners must be repealed. Fresh elections must also be held in Bihar and West Bengal,” Bhattacharya said.
AISA national president Neha Bora announced that students and youths would assemble at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on 10 October demanding Kumar’s resignation. She appealed to people from all sections of society to join the movement to “save democracy”.
Ms Bora alleged that the Election Commission was functioning in favour of a particular political party and accused the Delhi Police of attempting to suppress the protests to protect Kumar.
She claimed that 13 crore names had been deleted across the country during the SIR exercise, while 16 lakh names had subsequently been added in Uttar Pradesh without adequate information being provided by the Commission.
Alleging a “patriarchal mindset” among sections of the Delhi Police, Ms Bora said women protesters were being harassed and physically assaulted to prevent them from participating in the movement. She also alleged that no action had been taken against a police officer accused of molesting women journalists, while those who lodged complaints were arrested.
The CPI(ML) Liberation said similar protests would be organised in Kolkata and other parts of the country in the coming days.
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