Kolkata: Both the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party submitted a memorandum at the State Election Office. While the TMC delegates claimed that the Election Commission of India is being run by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP claimed that the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had violated the model code of conduct during Nandigram polls on April 1.
Amid the ongoing Assembly polls, the third phase of which is due on April 6, TMC leader Yashwant Sinha, Nayna Bandyopadhyay, TMC candidate from Ballygunge constituency Subrata Mukherjee met state Chief Electoral Officer Arif Aftab on Friday complaining that the Election Commission of India is being partial towards the BJP.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is influencing the poll process by passing on instruction from Delhi. In last two phases the central forces are also being partial towards BJP and in front of them our workers are being killed. We have complained so that we don’t want the repetition of the same in the remaining six phases,” said Sinha after coming out from the State Election office.
Notably, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday during the second phase of the Assembly poll had also accused central forces deployed in Nandigram constituency and also alleged that the ECI is being run by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
On the other side, BJP leader Tathagata Roy and Sisir Bajoria submitted a memorandum at the State Election Office to complain against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for breaking ‘model code of conduct’ during Nandigram polls and also complained against the TMC for allegedly hitting their Diamond Harbor candidate Dipak Halder during his poll campaign.
Tathagata Roy, who was one of the members of the delegation said, “We know that candidate has the right to go to a booth but cannot create a situation which violates Section 144. Maybe she was trying to slow the voting process. We can only guess that she may have been advised that if she can slow the voting rate, her margin of loss will be a little less than what it would be. But what she has done is completely illegal. We are satisfied with the way the elections were conducted by the Election Commission and would request it to continue the good work.”
Shishir Bajoria said, “TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna for two hours inside the booth in Boyal. The pictures will prove that she clearly violated Section 144. Our central team in Delhi will also be approaching the ECI at its headquarters on the same subject. Moreover, she has been giving provocative speeches that can erupt violence.”
