In April/May this year, Assembly elections will be held in four states — Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala, along with the union territory, Puducherry. The bigger parties, national as well as local, have started their usual pre-election exercises: Leaders are in talks with different groups to (a) explore the possibility of launching new coalitions or work out seat adjustments; and (b) to restructure their own political programmes and organisations.

Political temperatures are already rising in East/North East areas of India, in Assam and West Bengal. In these states, there is good reason to believe that the serving Chief Ministers, through their recent actions and public comments, might well have exceeded the limits of free speech, besides, violating basic norms in political campaigning! In the process they have brazenly violated provisions of the Constitution and challenged deliberately or not, the basic concept of India's federal political structure system!

Consider the record; Assam Chief Minister Mr, Himanta Biswa Sarma during a chat with the media gleefully admitted that the names of many 'Mians" (Bengali speaking Muslim settlers) might have been officially deleted from the electoral rolls, during the current Special Intensive Revision scheme (SIR). Ordered by the central Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the SIR is intended to make electoral rolls error free, to ensure free and fair elections. In both states, there have been persistent opposition complaints alleging poll rigging, impersonation and tampering of the rolls by the ruling party of the moment.

The SIR was first used in Bihar before the elections were held there last year. The outcome improved the position of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and enabled the veteran Mr. Nitish Kumar to become Chief Minister again. As usual, the losers including the RJD party led by Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav and family as well as the Congress, bitterly protested against the CEC and the SIR operation. They claimed, that their supporters had been deleted from the electoral rolls in the name the SIR!. The CEC is however continuing with the SIR overruling some of the objections made by the contesting parties.

While the SIR was in progress in Assam, it was strange to hear Chief Minister Sarma's controversial views on the exercise itself. The Mians (Bengali Muslims settled in Assam), said Sarma, would find their numbers reduced in the new voters' list. Election Commission (EC) officials would go from house to house to check whether the voters could show proof of their Indian citizenship. The "Mians' who had illegally infiltrated into India and settled in Assam in recent times would be traced. Then as spelt out in detail by GOI, they would be detained and deported to Bangladesh, where they or their parents/relatives had come from.

As Chief Minister, Sarma warned, he would do everything to ensure that the outsider Mians who now constituted 40% of Assam's population of around 32 million people, never became a majority. The Assamiyas were about to become a minority in their homeland. Except for the Mians, no other community — tribals, Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, Non Assamiya Indians — had anything to fear from the SIR process.

His comments, it could be argued, were part of a hate campaign, targeting a section of Muslims in Assam delivered from the Chief Minister's chair. Several questions arose: On whose authorisation had he spilled the beans about an anti-/minority approach on part of the CEC? Neither he nor the Assam government could interfere with the election process. The autonomous CEC was the supreme authority. in election matters. Can a Chief Minister comment on what the CEC should do? As the elected head of the biggest and ethnically the most complex state of the Northeast, Assam — why had he decided to embarrass the CEC and GOI?

It is another story that already in UP and other states, the CEC has had to delete names of millions voters from the electoral rolls as the SIR had been carried out. . The process is under way in 12 States. But apart from West Bengal, there has been no public outcry nor mass protests organised by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) targeting SIR. .

Logically, there is nothing surprising about the deletions ordered by the CEC. Having elections, in 2026 in a populous country like India, it is natural that illness, accidents etc would have claimed many lives in 24 years. Many voters had died or changed residences as they secured jobs away from their home states, between 2002 and 2026.

The SIR was done earlier in Bihar, State assembly elections were carried out on the basis of the new revised list free from errors, 68,00,000 names were deleted from the corrected electoral rolls. The results; favoured the BJP-led coalition, while former Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar remained the formal head of Government.

As surely as night follows day, the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD party accused the CEC, the ruling BJP at the Centre, and government agencies like the CBI, ED etc of conspiring against the opposition! The voters' list, alleged RJD leaders, had been tampered with. .

As for West Bengal, the allegation against CM Mamata Banerjee was more serious. Nearly three weeks ago, she physically disrupted an operation carried out by the Enforced department (ED) officials in the residence of one Pratik Jain. This person is a senior employee of IPAC, the organisation set up by Mr Prashant Kishor to assist and guide various political parties in fighting election and other matters.

She stopped the ED's work, helped by a large party of Kolkata police officials and constables, some carrying revolvers. They stopped the raid, rounding up ED officials into a corner. Later, the Chief Minister came out carrying some documents and files. Other policemen too, carried files and other materials, which they loaded into some waiting cars.

It was scandalous, for a Chief Minister, to disturb a raid conducted by the highest legal authorities in India, and interfere blatantly with a probe into a case of corruption. It was being carried out under specific orders issued by the local high court and the Supreme Court as well. No other state Chief Minister had ever been involved in such an embarrassing display of an administration siding with suspected criminal activities involving a large sum of money — Rs 2762 crore, in this case — in independent India!

Not content with this, Ms Banerjee proceeded to another office of the IPAC in the city. Once more she took out some files, papers and computer related equipment which were duly put in the police vehicles. Fully aware that all her movements and words shared with state police officers, etc. were being filmed by TV cameras, the flustered CM then held an impromptu press conference.

She alleged that the ED had raided the office and residence of a private citizen without informing the state Government or seeking its permission. This could not be tolerated. The material she had snatched from the ED were mainly documents, reports and details about the programmes of the AITC. She could not allow any agency, whether government or private to act against a political party in this manner in Wet Bengal.

The rest, as they say, is history. The ED promptly filed a case naming her along with senior state police officers, in the Supreme Court. The court has fixed a date for hearing in the first week of February, 2026. The ED named Ms Banerjee and alleged that she had violated 16/17 sections of the new BNSS 2023 including Sec. 163. Many of the violations listed here are non-bailable.

Amidst the chaos and confusion of a state government actually using its police to obstruct physically officials of the ED — surely a unique incident in post independent India — most people forgot the indiscreet and shocking remarks made by Mr, Sarma, Ms Banerjee's counterpart in Assam.

Significantly, no other central agency/authority, including the Union Home Ministry, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the President of India or the Lok Sabha Speaker, has chosen to discuss the present situation. Some political leaders it appears, can take liberties with the Constitution, and fundamental laws of governance, but not others. Mr. Sarma has castigated the large Muslim community several times earlier. Ms Banerjee has interfered with and protested against the ED. the CBI, the BSF and the Army on many occasions, as stated by an SC judge himself! Why no action, no reprimand or warning is not issued from the high authorities in India against such behaviour of a handful of politicians it is hard to understand, let alone explain!

Incidentally, there are charges of major corruption against both Mr. Sarma and Ms Banerjee and their respective families!

This has been a major legal setback for the West Bengal Government, its senior state and city police officials (four persons were named), not to mention the Chief Minister herself! The Supreme Court also ordered a stay on four cases started by the TMC Government against ED officials for their unwarranted activities in the state. Mamata Banerjee has .lodged complaints against ECI and ED. That will be heard by has the Supreme Court this week. On February 3, the Supreme Court also will hear the cases lodged by ED against WB government and WB police complaints against ED. This fight at the legal level has made the election campaign in Bengal more vicious compared to the other states. (IPA Service)