Bengal minister indirectly accuses CEC of taking favours; BJP hits back

Kolkata, Nov 20 A veteran and high-profile member of the West Bengal Cabinet on Thursday launched an attack against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, without naming him and indirectly accused the latter of taking favours through prized jobs and plum postings for two of his close relatives.

“The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an autonomous constitutional entity. It is supposed to be independent and unbiased. But two close relatives of the person heading the entity have been awarded with prized jobs and plum postings. Any person who accepts bribes or loses the rigidity of his spine has nothing substantial to offer,” the West Bengal Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, said.

BJP leaders in West Bengal criticised Chattopadhyay for his comments indirectly targeting the CEC.

Former BJP Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore Lok constituency in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Arjun Singh, has challenged the minister to move the Supreme Court and prove his allegations against the CEC there.

Scribe-turned-journalist and the BJP’s state general secretary in West Bengal, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, said that the comments by the minister prove Trinamool Congress’ fear over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, which will result in the deletion of names of several illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators.

“A competition of spreading slanders among the Trinamool Congress leaders is going on to remain in the good books of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” he said.

Previously, several Trinamool Congress leaders, including the Chief Minister and the party’s general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of playing into the hands of the BJP and creating an ambience of panic in West Bengal in the name of SIR.

Both have held the commission responsible for suicides and suicide attempts in the state, reportedly out of the fear of getting their names deleted from the voters’ list following the revision exercise.

However, this is for the first time that any heavyweight member of the West Bengal Cabinet has launched such a personal attack against the CEC.

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