New Delhi: The TMC-EC faceoff over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal intensified on Monday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging he was being “arrogant” and that the poll panel was working at the behest of the BJP.
Election Commission officials claimed that she left without listening to the response of the poll panel top brass on the issues raised by her. On the other hand, the BJP hit back at Banerjee, alleging that she was protesting against an “imagined grievance” and enacting a “drama”.
The TMC supremo, who has been demanding a halt to the voters’ list cleanup exercise in West Bengal, is in Delhi along with SIR-affected families from her state. She reached Delhi on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, she confronted police personnel deployed outside Banga Bhawan in Chanakyapuri here and alleged harassment of the families by the Delhi Police. The force refuted the claim, stating that the deployment outside the Banga Bhawan was part of security.
In the afternoon, she went to the poll panel’s office here, wearing a black shawl as a mark of “protest”, accompanied by party MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee, and 12 members from “SIR affected families” from West Bengal to meet Kumar and fellow ECs.
She later said that they “boycotted” the meeting in protest, while poll panel officials claimed she left in a huff without listening to the response of the EC top brass.
Talking to the media after coming out of the Election Commission’s headquarters here, the West Bengal CM launched a fresh tirade against the poll panel, accusing it of working as the BJP’s “dalal” (middleman).
“So many people have died, who is responsible? The EC is responsible. They are working at the behest of the BJP,” Banerjee alleged
“They behaved very badly with us, I said I am sorry we came here for justice; we did not get that, and you are lying. He is a great liar…,” she said.
“We said we will fight it on the ground. You have the power of the BJP; we have the power of the people. We boycotted the meeting and came out. They have insulted us, humiliated us… I have not seen this type of Election Commission; they are very arrogant … He talks with an attitude like he is Zamindar, and we are servants,” she alleged.
However, EC officials said that the TMC leaders were given a patient hearing.
First TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee spoke, followed by Mamata Banerjee, the officials said, adding that the points raised by them were duly noted down by CEC Kumar and Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The delegation submitted a memorandum, alleging “grave procedural, legal and Constitutional violations in the conduct of the SIR”.
In it, West Bengal’s ruling party demanded the EC immediately withdraw all SIR hearing notices, abandon the “logical discrepancy” framework, stop the “interference” of micro-observers, disengage all non-statutory personnel immediately, and take “full institutional accountability for the tragic loss of lives”.
An EC official said, “When the CEC started to respond, the TMC leaders interjected on multiple occasions. She was agitated and left the meeting in a huff.”
The CEC explained that the “rule of law will prevail” and anybody taking the law into their own hands will be dealt with strictly in accordance with the provisions of law and powers vested in the commission.
Kumar told the TMC leadership that its MLAs are openly using abusive and threatening language against the commission and especially against the CEC. There have been incidents of vandalism of the electoral registration officers by TMC workers and MLAs, Kumar told TMC leaders.
“No pressure, obstruction, or interference of any kind by anyone should be exerted on officers engaged in SIR work. Honorarium payable to Booth Level Officers (BLOs) should be released promptly without any further delay, the CEC told the delegation,” an official said.
In the morning, Banerjee reached the Chanakyapuri premises of Banga Bhawan and objected to the “heavy” security deployment there.
She claimed the “SIR-affected families” from West Bengal, who have been brought to the national capital by the TMC, were being “threatened” by the police. Banerjee, however, added that she doesn’t blame the police, but “those who are on the top”.
“This is incompetence… They can’t protect the nation, but they torture Bengal and the common people, and are committing atrocities in the name of SIR,” she alleged. “They get nervous when I come here. I could have brought lakhs of people (here),” the TMC supremo said.
“I am not here for an agitation. Had that been so, you would have lost your mind. We are here for justice,” she said.
Police said security arrangements in the area have been stepped up after the incident.
TMC MPs, including Saket Gokhale, Dola Sen, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Bapi Haldar, meanwhile, rushed to different locations in the national capital where the SIR-impacted families are staying.
Gokhale was seen confronting the police personnel deployed outside a West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited guesthouse in Delhi’s Kailash Colony. Twenty people affected by the revision exercise in the eastern state are staying here.
Gokhale told PTI that the Delhi Police came to check the register there in the morning, and around 25-30 police personnel, along with a bus purportedly to carry detainees, were deployed at the location.
“The Delhi Police had told them they would be detained if they stepped out, and the gates had been locked. When I spoke to the police, they said it was a security measure for the Republic Day. When I said the Republic Day had passed, I was told an AI summit is happening,” he said.
The issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha by TMC’s deputy leader Sagarika Ghose. “A delegation of victims of the SIR process who have suffered all kinds of losses, were harassed and manhandled by the Delhi Police,” she said.
Refuting the chief minister’s claims, Special Commissioner of Police (Perception Management and Media Cell) Devesh Chandra Srivastav told a press conference that no police personnel entered the Banga Bhawan.
In a statement, the Delhi Police said that as per the protocol, the responsibility of Banerjee’s security arrangements in the national capital lies with the Delhi Police, and their West Bengal counterpart had already informed them about it.
“As per the information received, it was reported that around 150-200 supporters of a political party had come from West Bengal and were staying at different locations in Delhi, including guest houses and hotels in South Delhi, New Delhi, and Central Delhi areas. It was also informed that VVIPs and senior leaders would visit these guest houses or hotels. Accordingly, adequate deployment was made at these places,” the Delhi Police said.
Banerjee has moved the Supreme Court challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. She filed the petition on January 28.
She has made the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal parties in the case. The matter is yet to be listed for hearing in the top court.
The Supreme Court is already hearing a bunch of petitions on the SIR issue.
