An Attempt to Belittle the Institution: EC on Mamata’s Allegations

The Election Commission announced eight phases of polling in the West Bengal Assembly election, 2021.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

The Election Commission on Tuesday, 16 March, penned a prompt response to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had, at a rally in Bankura, commented about the poll body “working under the Bharatiya Janata Party’s influence”.

The EC’s letter cited the report on the controversial Nandigram incident leading to Banerjee’s injury and said that Banerjee’s continued aspersions on the poll body by seeking meetings are “an attempt to belittle the institution of the Commission”.

Following the replacement of the state police chief by the EC, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the EC have been in a hostile engagement.

In a curt letter, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain wrote, “Notwithstanding the above meetings in Kolkata and in Delhi, if it is stated by the honourable CM that the commission should meet political parties, it is only an attempt to belittle the institution of Commission with repeated innuendos and averments.”

Jain also wrote that the Commission “maintains the position that it would not like to keep on being put in the dock for alleged proximity to any political entity, etc. However, if the CM persists in creating and attempting to perpetuate this myth for reasons best known to her, it is singularly unfortunate, and it is only for her to adjudge as to why she is doing so.”

At the rally on Tuesday, Banerjee reiterated that the attack on her was a conspiracy by the BJP to kill her and questioned the EC’s decision to remove her security in-charge. “Do they want to kill me? Do they think that they will win this election by killing me? They are wrong,” the Banerjee had said.

This came after she was injured in Nandigram last week, and the EC had refused to accept the TMC’s claim, citing a lack of evidence on the matter.

In the letter, the Jain illustrated that they had seen the rally’s media reports, where she had raised “some of the issues”, mentioned earlier in a letter dated 14 March.

Jain also enclosed a copy of the text reporting the Nandigram incident, after which they had suspended Banerjee’s security in-charge Vivek Sahay, calling his conduct in the constituency “flippant”.

“The flippant attitude towards the security of the honourable CM exhibited by Shri Vivek Sahay, Director, Security, is evident by the fact that he was sitting in the bullet-proof car meant for the VVVIP,” the letter stated.