Ahead of the West Bengal panchayat polls, the ruling Trinamool Congress has written to the State Election Commission (SEC) against Governor CV Ananda Bose for “interdicting” the election process and visiting areas where violence has been reported in the run-up to the July 8 voting.
“The Hon’ble Governor is conducting meeting with workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party using facilities of the state such as Guest Houses/Circuit Houses and Transport facilities and by doing so is in violation of the Model code of Conduct West Bengal Panchayat Election Act, 2003 and Constitution of India,” stated the letter.
“The Governor is interdicting the election process by making unwarranted statements questioning the conduct of elections by the state election commission,” added the three-page letter.
Calling himself a “Ground Zero Governor”, Bose has started making impromptu visits and meeting family members of victims of poll-related violence, adding fuel to the Opposition parties’ claims of lawlessness and inadequate deployment of forces for the polls, reported The Indian Express.
Bose has visited Dinhata in Coochbehar, as well as Bhangar (the site of some of the worst clashes), Basanti and Murshidabad.
“Governor is questioning the sanctity of the SEC and interfering in the election process by encroaching upon its jurisdiction by conducting independent inquiries from officials of BDO, collecting nomination details, questioning police officials on the law and order situation and setting up of an alleged control room at Raj Bhawan to purportedly oversee the election process,” said the letter.
The Trinamool Congress claimed that Bose is running a parallel government by favouring the BJP by conducting meetings and providing security to them without consulting the ruling party.
“Conducting meetings with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and Central Security Agency to provide for security arrangements for members of BJP without consulting with the State or the State Election Commission,” said the letter from Trinamool’s state vice president Subrata Bakshi.
The ruling party also expressed dissatisfaction with the setting up of a control room in Raj Bhavan for the panchayat elections where common people can report their complaints.
Meanwhile, the Governor on Tuesday described the ongoing violence ahead of panchayat polls as politics of “murder”, “intimidation” and of “muscle flexing”.
“My visit to the field has convinced me that there is violence in certain pockets of West Bengal. There is a manifestation of what is called the politics of murder, the politics of intimidation, the politics of muscle flexing,” he said, adding that his visits should not be seen as a “fault-finding mission” but a “fact-finding mission”.
West Bengal has witnessed violence around the filing of nominations for the panchayat polls as well as after, including one where crude bombs were allegedly thrown at a Block Development Office (BDO) at Ahmadpur in Birbhum district.