Archive · 2 Oct 2026
Yusuf Pathan Challenges NCPI Praise for Election Chief
A political party leader asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar the country’s highest award.
He praised Kumar for overseeing peaceful elections in West Bengal.
Yusuf Pathan, who is associated with the same political party, questioned that request.
Pathan said many people were still speaking up about their right to vote.
He also denied writing any letter supporting the award.
Earlier, Pathan and two other MPs said genuine voters had been removed from electoral lists.
They asked officials to review those cases quickly.
The disagreement is about whether the election process deserves praise while voter-registration concerns remain.
Yusuf Pathan questioned whether Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should receive the nation’s highest recognition.
Pathan said voters in Bengal, Murshidabad, Baharampur and across India were raising concerns about their voting rights.
NCPI president Jyoti Prokash Chatterjee asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to honor Kumar for conducting the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Chatterjee said the elections were held without bloodshed, intimidation or electoral malpractice and restored voter confidence.
Pathan and two other NCPI MPs had earlier raised concerns about genuine voters being deleted from West Bengal’s electoral rolls.
- Who
- Yusuf Pathan, NCPI president Jyoti Prokash Chatterjee, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- What
- Pathan questioned NCPI’s call to give Kumar the nation’s highest recognition and denied writing a supporting letter.
- When
- The remarks and report were dated October 1; the referenced West Bengal Assembly elections were held in 2026.
- Where
- The dispute concerns West Bengal, including Murshidabad and Baharampur, and was reported from New Delhi.
- Why
- Chatterjee praised the election’s conduct, while Pathan cited ongoing concerns about voting rights and deleted voter names.
Pathan’s concerns
NCPI leadership’s praise
Recognition for the election chief
Pathan’s concerns
Pathan questioned whether an award should be recommended while people were raising concerns about their right to vote.
NCPI leadership’s praise
Jyoti Prokash Chatterjee said Gyanesh Kumar deserved the nation’s highest recognition for overseeing peaceful and credible elections.
Assessment of the electoral process
Pathan’s concerns
Pathan emphasized alleged voter-rights problems, including the deletion of genuine names from electoral rolls.
NCPI leadership’s praise
Chatterjee said the election was free of bloodshed, intimidation and electoral malpractice and helped restore voter confidence.
Letter attributed to Pathan
Pathan’s concerns
Pathan denied writing the letter and said claims made in his name should be supported by publicly released evidence.
NCPI leadership’s praise
The article reports that Chatterjee wrote to Modi seeking recognition for Kumar, but does not establish that Pathan authored or endorsed that letter.
- Award request
- Jyoti Prokash Chatterjee asked Narendra Modi to give Gyanesh Kumar the nation’s highest recognition.
- Election assessment
- Chatterjee said the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections were conducted without bloodshed, intimidation or electoral malpractice.
- Pathan’s response
- Pathan said he had not written any letter supporting the award and asked that any purported letter be made public.
- Voter-rights concerns
- Pathan said people in Bengal, Murshidabad, Baharampur and across the country were raising their voices for voting rights.
- Electoral-roll issue
- Pathan, Abu Taher Khan and Khalilur Rahaman said genuine voters had been deleted during the Special Intensive Revision.
- Requested remedies
- The MPs sought faster tribunal decisions, additional tribunal benches and a grievance-redressal mechanism.
- Political alignment
- NCPI MPs extended support to the BJP-led NDA, while saying they were not part of the NDA.