The leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Friday morning lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India against chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her remarks on the appointment of the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged manipulation of electoral rolls ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.

“Yesterday, while addressing a Trinamul party workers’ meeting chief minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as chief election commissioner, alleging that the BJP was “trying to influence” the constitutional body by appointing ‘BJP people’ in key positions,” Adhikari said.

He said by making these accusations Mamata was trying to instil doubt in the minds of the voters ahead of the Bengal polls.

In her address to party workers on Thursday, Mamata had read out names of voters who she alleged had been added to the voters’ list from outside.

“Mamata Banerjee singled out your tenure as the secretary of the ministry of cooperation, however she conveniently omitted that the CEC and ECs have to be from among the persons who are holding or have held a post equivalent to the post of secretary to the Government of India and are persons of integrity with knowledge of and experience in management of conduct of free and fair election,” Adhikari wrote in the letter to the EC.

Kumar’s appointment made on the midnight of February 18 had sparked a controversy as the Lok Sabha leader of Opposition and Congress MP from Rae Bareilly Rahul Gandhi, the third member in the selection panel that comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union Home minister Amit Shah, had submitted a dissent note.

The Congress had objected to the appointment citing a case pending in the Supreme Court over the Modi government’s reconstituting the selection panel replacing the Chief Justice of India with a union minister.

“The chief minister has crossed all limits by targeting the ECI, a permanent constitutional body which was established in accordance with the Constitution. She has no right or authority to question your appointment or integrity. She also asserted unless the ECI is impartial there cannot be free and fair elections,” Adhikari wrote in his missive.

Mamata had threatened to stage a dharna in front of the Nirvachan Sadan in Delhi if the alleged manipulation in electoral rolls is not stopped. Mamata had claimed that the BJP had won the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Delhi by including false voters from outside the states.

On February 8, the Mahayuti partners in Maharashtra, the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) had sought answers from the ECI on the revision of rolls between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Adhikari has claimed that the central poll panel has already issued a clarification on the issue.

“It isn’t possible that Mamata Banerjee is unaware that the EC had already clarified that there was no irregular pattern in voters' deletion in Maharashtra as alleged by the Congress… the EC rejected the baseless charges brought by the Congress as “factually incorrect and misleading.”

The Congress and the CPM had reminded Mamata on Thursday that though Assembly and Parliamentary polls are conducted by the EC, the revision of electoral rolls is done by the state government.

The opposition in Bengal in successive elections had complained about false voters being added to the voters’ list by the ruling Trinamul in Bengal.