WB polls: TMC leader attacks EC for ‘failing’ to provide security to Mamata Banerjee

Attacking the Election Commission (EC) for failing to “perform their duties and responsibilities”, Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee on Thursday said the people responsible for the alleged attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should be “located and tried with the proper investigation”.

“The TMC election committee strongly condemns the attack on Mamata Banerjee, and since elections are taking place under the Election Commission, it is their duty to prevent such incident. Whoever injured Mamata should be located and tried with proper investigation,” said Chatterjee. Calling EC’s role bigger than that of state police in Wednesday’s incident in Nandigram, the TMC leader said, “How could Mamata have suffered this in complete security? Before this, by doing back-to-back changes in the administration, they have tried to convert the state administration into the central administration. They replaced the Additional Director General of Police (ADG) and then they replaced the Director General (DG) as well.”

He further informed that a TMC delegation, including him, Derek O’Brien and Chandrima Bhattacharya, went to the State Election Commission, and asked for a fair and complete investigation.

“We asked the Election Commission as to why did they fail to provide security… and said that Election Commission should perform its duties and responsibilities,” he said.

He added that on Friday, a party delegation including Sougata Roy, Derek O’Brian, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and KK Mandal will go to the EC office in New Delhi and “inform our opinions, observations over EC in a written protest”.

The TMC leader further alleged that West Bengal is being “deprived and ignored” by the Election Commission.

“We are observing another thing like, how Bengal is being deprived and ignored. How the Election Commission is making arrangements for the central administration. In Tamil Nadu, the voting will be concluded in one day, in Assam, it will conclude in two phases, and yet in Bengal, there are eight phases of polling,” he said.

“Everywhere there is an attempt to disqualify nomination of TMC candidates, you have seen how Ujjawl Kumar’s nomination letter was cancelled in Purulia. On Friday, we will go to every district, block, ward, between 3 pm and 5 pm and wave black flags. By having our faces wrapped in black cloth, we will hold a silent procession,” Chatterjee added.

Meanwhile, injured Banerjee appealed to her supporters to maintain peace and refrain from doing anything that can cause “inconvenience” to anybody in a video message.