Mamata dismisses reports of removal of SEC, says poll process peaceful

Her remarks come a day after the Governor “returned” the joining report of Sinha to the state government on Wednesday. 

PTI, 22 June, 2023, Kolkata, Jun 22, 2023 :  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dismissed reports of removing State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha, despite Governor CV Ananda Bose returning his joining report, emphasising the state’s unprecedentedly peaceful rural poll nomination process.

Banerjee on Thursday said removing the SEC is a “cumbersome process” and must be done through impeachment.

“The SEC cannot be removed just like that. The Governor himself has cleared the file on the appointment of Sinha as State Election Commissioner,” she said.

Her remarks come a day after the Governor “returned” the joining report of Sinha to the state government on Wednesday. The development comes ahead of the July 8 panchayat polls.

“The removal process of the SEC is quite cumbersome, just like removing judges through impeachment,” she said.

Speaking on the issue of poll-related violence in the state, Banerjee asserted, “Never has the poll nomination process in Bengal been so peaceful. It is the cadres of our party who have been killed. There have been some incidents in three to four booths.” Widespread violence over the filing of nominations for July 8 polls has left six people dead and several injured in various parts of the state.

Banerjee refuted claims that the Opposition was not allowed to file nominations and presented data stating that around 2.3 lakh nominations were filed for the polls.

“Have you ever heard that 2.31 lakh nominations for rural polls have been filed in any other state? Yet the Opposition is claiming that they weren’t able to file nominations. Isn’t this ironical?” the TMC supremo questioned.

The feisty TMC boss wondered why central forces were not sent to Tripura, where the BJP had won 96 per cent of the seats uncontested, and accused the central government of targeting the state government by using central agencies.

“I believe that more the central government gets behind us, the more they insult Bengal, the more they try to hinder Bengal’s progress, the people will give them a befitting reply. Instead of fighting us politically, they are using central agencies to harass us,” she said.

Coming out in support of the state police, whose impartiality is being questioned by the Opposition, Banerjee said, “Let them deploy central forces; it is the people who have the final say in democracy.” The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition more than 82,000 central forces personnel within 24 hours for deployment in panchayat elections.

The TMC had earlier cited previous instances, such as the 2013 panchayat polls and subsequent electoral victories, where the TMC emerged victorious despite the deployment of central forces.

In the rural polls held five years ago, the TMC won 90 per cent of the panchayat seats and all 22 zilla parishads. However, these elections were marred by widespread violence and malpractices, with the opposition alleging they were prevented from filing nominations in several seats across the state.

The state’s three-tier panchayat election with approximately 5.67 crore electorate will exercise their franchise to choose representatives for nearly 74,000 seats in zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats. PTI PNT PNT MNB

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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