At Tuesday’s rally, Mamata Banerjee made no bones about it. (Archive)
Calcutta:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments on the Election Commission at a rally in Bankura on Tuesday drew a swift response from the electoral body, which said its remarks seeking meetings “belittle” it.
The exchange marked a new low in rancor between the party and the electoral body, which began after the replacement of the state police chief by the commission earlier this month.
In the unusually sharp letter, Deputy Electoral Commissioner Sudeep Jain wrote: “Despite previous meetings in Kolkata and Delhi, if the Honorable CM claims that the commission should meet with political parties, it is only an attempt to disparage the institution. of the commission with innuendo and repeated assertions. “
The Commission, Mr. Jain wrote, “maintains the position that they would not like to be followed in the dock for alleged proximity to some political entity, etc. However, if CM persists in creating and attempting to perpetuate this myth for reasons best known to her is singularly unfortunate, and only CM can judge why she is doing it. “
Since the removal of the police chief, Trinamool has made no secret of its reservations about the Commission. At Tuesday’s rally, Ms. Banerjee made no bones about it.
“I’m asking about the Election Commission. Who runs the Election Commission? Amit Shah, do you run it? We want free and fair elections, but who is Amit Shah? Who is he to lead the Election Commission? Interfering? in the work of the Electoral Commission … And this is against us. My security officer has also been removed. What do you want? Do you want to kill me? “she had said.
The Trinamool Congress has been breathing fire since the Chief Minister was injured in Nandigram on Wednesday last week. His reactions had been exacerbated by the Commission’s refusal to accept the party’s claim that it was the result of an attempt on his life, saying there was no evidence.
The Chief Minister had set out to launch the wheelchair campaign. At every rally, she has been talking about her injuries and stating that although her injuries are painful, they would not stop her.
“My head has been hurt many times. My hips have been hurt many times. I have gotten over all those injuries. If I give in to my pain and lie down, then BJP will cause pain to people. I feel like people Pain is more important than my pain, “he said Tuesday in Bankura.
In the letter, Mr. Jain indicated that they have seen the media reports on the rally, where he has raised “some of these issues”, mentioned above in a letter to the Commission, sent on March 14.
“In the absence of authoritative text” of the rally speech, they were responding to the Chief Minister’s letter, he wrote, attaching a copy of the report after which they had suspended Ms. Banerjee’s head of security, Vivek Sahay.
The Commission said that the Chief Minister had encountered an accident and held Mr. Sahay responsible for the violation of his Z-Plus safety protocol. Mamata Banerjee’s armored car was occupied by the security officer, the Commission had said.
The attached report also mentioned the lack of immediate response from his driver and his security personnel when his vehicle was surrounded by a crowd.
.
