Protesters wave black flags at CEC Gyanesh Kumar during his visit to Kalighat temple in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, accompanied by West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agrawal, on Monday offered prayers at the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata with several people gathered outside to protest against his visit.

Security personnel had to manage a crowd of demonstrators who were seen waving black flags as the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, reached the temple premises.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while speaking to the reporter, said, “My greetings to all the brothers and sisters of West Bengal. May Goddess Kali bless everyone. Jai Bharat, Jai Hind”. On the other hand, Subrata Gupta, Special Roll Observer, West Bengal, while talking to the reporters, said, “We prayed that the elections be held peacefully”.

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: People protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar outside the Kalighat Temple

CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accompanied by West Bengal CEO Manoj Agrawal, arrived at the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/BiwBmhaLJS

— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2026

On protest and black flags shown to CEC, he said, “In a democracy, everyone has the right to protest”. He further says, “There is a meeting today and tomorrow. There is a meeting with many officials, with political parties, with the press, with everyone. It will be decided in the meeting as to what arrangements will be made for the poll. The election will be conducted in a completely peaceful manner…”

Meanwhile, on Sunday the West Bengal locals gathered in front of a private hotel in New Town, wearing posters on their chests that read ‘Go back, Gyanesh Kumar, murderer of democracy’ as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar along with Election Commissioners SS Sandhu, Vivek Joshi and Senior Deputy Election Commissioners Maneesh gard and Pawan Kumar arrived at the Kolkata Airport along with CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

The CEC reached Kolkata for a three-day visit today, scheduled from March 8 to March 10, to review election preparedness in West Bengal. The locals organised a protest and showed a black flag to the convoy of the Chief Election Commissioner outside the airport in Kolkata.

During the visit, they will review preparations for the upcoming 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections. They will meet all political parties, senior administration officials, and police.

Earlier on Saturday, after reviewing the preparations for the forthcoming polls in Kerala, Gyanesh Kumar said that the upcoming assembly elections in Kerala are expected to set a benchmark for democratic practices, expressing confidence in the preparedness of the state’s election machinery and cooperation from political parties.

“Kerala was my karma bhoomi 22 years back. Now I have come back here to review the preparedness for the upcoming elections. All the political parties and the entire election machinery have assured that the upcoming elections in Kerala are going to be the model not only for the country, but for the world,” he stated.

Politics in Bengal has heated up as the state prepares itself to face assembly polls in the first half of this year. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) faces a major challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party. (ANI)