Mamata lashes out at SEC and media.....Mamata Banerjee vows ‘fitting reply’ to state election commission

TH, KOLKATA, July 7, 2013: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the State Election Commission of taking decisions unilaterally and the media of slandering her government.

Ms. Banerjee, who was addressing a poll rally at Joynagar in South 24 Parganas district, said the party would answer the poll panel through ballots. She also justified the boycott of Saturday’s all-party meeting convened by the SEC. “Why should the party go? Have they heeded any of our pleas?”

She said the poll dates inconvenienced everyone; Muslims may be affected as Ramadan is round the corner, people are likely to suffer due to the monsoons, and students are bound to be hit as exams and admissions were scheduled at that time.

“Even the counting date was fixed unilaterally on June 29. We will suffer as the State budget will have to be passed by July 31. There is barely breathing time now to get everything ready,” she said.

Ms. Banerjee accused the media of launching slander campaigns against her government and named three media houses. “They have no other work,” she said.

Meanwhile, her justification for boycotting the all-party meeting condemned by the Opposition, with some parties wondering whether her action behoved the leader of a ruling party.

TNN | Jul 7, 2013: DAKSHIN BARASAT (SOUTH 24-PARGANAS): Smarting from the legal setback on the panchayat polls, chief minister Mamata Banerjee launched a withering attack on the state election commission at a public meeting on Saturday, blaming it squarely for holding the election during Ramzan. She promised to give the poll panel a "fitting reply by democratic means". 

The unprecedented instance of a chief minister virtually declaring war on a constitutional body was backed up by another one — the ruling Trinamool Congress stayed away from an all-party meeting on the polls called by the SEC. In his fax message to state election commissioner Mira Pande, party leader Partha Chatterjee said the meeting was hurriedly called, leaving little room for discussion. "Our leaders are busy in the poll campaign," he said. 

Mamata's remarks against the SEC came during a rally in Dakshin Barasat, where her audience was predominantly Muslim. It was the government, though, that was ticked off by the Supreme Court last week for "dilly dallying" with the panchayat polls. It is common knowledge that the dates were fixed in the Supreme Court and the judges did consult the state's counsel before finalizing the schedule. 

"The SEC didn't bother to consult the government before fixing the dates. Why did it fix the polls during Ramzan?" she said. "There is a gameplan, dhandabaji (a trick) behind this to prevent Muslim brothersand sisters from coming out to vote during Ramzan. Just take a chance if it goes to the CPM's advantage. Why then did the SEC fix dates that overlapped with college examinations? The government was also not consulted before announcing the counting date," Mamata said. She was particularly angry with the SEC announcing the counting date on its own. She said the date clashed with the government passing departmental budgets in the assembly. 

Opposition leaders were alarmed at the CM throwing a challenge to the SEC. "This is undemocratic and unprecedented and quite unbecoming of a CM," CPM leader Rabin Deb said. State election commissioner Mira Pande didn't react to Mamata's comment. SEC officials said the state government's stance was unfortunate. 

In her speech, Mamata didn't spare anyone who she thought was her contender — be it the CPM, the Congress, Maoists, the BJP or a section of the media. "Don't forget the delay tactic is on record. This is applicable to other places or occasions as well," she said. She then took on the Centre by playing to Bengali sentiments. "Delhi takes away Rs 40,000 crore as tax from Bengal and another Rs 25,000 crore as part of debt restructuring, adding up to Rs 65,000 crore. Let me tell you, Delhi has to come down to Bengal with a begging bowl, Bengal won't go to Delhi begging. I can break but won't bow," she said, echoing the anti-Centre refrain the Left made use of in the Eighties. 

While listing government projects already in progress in South 24-Parganas that have been badly hit by the Saradha scam, the CM said her government has a Rs 500-crore corpus for the victim's families. "We have kept the fund ready. We are waiting for the recommendations of the Justice Shyamal Sen Commission. We will start giving refunds as soon as we get them. We will also sell out the assets of these chit funds and pay you back the money," the CM said.