A political controversy has broken out in West Bengal just days before the first phase of Assembly elections, following a tense meeting between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar abruptly ended the meeting within minutes and asked the party delegation to “get lost.” According to O’Brien, the interaction lasted only five minutes.

“The meeting started at 10:02 AM and ended at 10:07 AM,” he said. “Today, we went to the Chief Election Commissioner. He told us ‘get lost’ within 7 minutes of the meeting… When we told him that you are transferring officials, and how you would want to conduct a free and fair election? And then he said, leave from here.”

O’Brien further challenged the Election Commission to make the proceedings public, saying, “We challenge the ECI to release the video or audio of the meeting.”

The TMC delegation had reportedly raised concerns over the transfer of officials and the conduct of free and fair elections during the brief meeting.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission, in a post on X, said it had issued an “ultimatum” to the Trinamool Congress, asking the party to ensure “fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free, raid-free, booth and source jamming-free” polls in the state.

Adding to the controversy, a former TMC MP who was part of the delegation backed O’Brien’s claims and said, “This is a LIE. I was personally present at the meeting. NOTHING like this was said. All that CEC Gyanesh Kumar said to us was ‘GET LOST’. We challenge the ECI to release a transcript of the meeting. Else we will do it.”

On the other hand, sources indicated that the Election Commission has a different version of events, claiming that O’Brien raised his voice during the meeting and interrupted the Chief Election Commissioner. However, no official statement has been issued by the poll body regarding these allegations.

The incident has intensified political tensions in West Bengal, with both sides presenting conflicting accounts of what transpired during the crucial pre-election meeting.