Highlighting "deteriorating law and order situation" in poll-bound West Bengal, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Tuesday and submitted a letter demanding impartial polls in the state.
The BJP delegation was led by Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, West Bengal BJP Secretary Sabyasachi Dutta, and BJP Election Committee convenor Shishir Bajoria.
"Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal would like to draw your attention to recent incidents which establish beyond doubt the partisan approach of West Bengal Police and a section of the government employees who are normally an integral part of the poll process from preparing of electoral rolls to physically conducting the polls on the polling day," the party said in the letter.
The letter highlighted the three main points: Deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal and the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls, Political bias of the State Government employees and its impact on the poll process, and Discrepancies in draft voter list as published on November 18, 2020.
BJP said that the attack on party president JP Nadda's convoy was carried out in the "full glare of a big contingent of police, including RAF, who simply remained silent spectators. This was under the supervision of local AITC MLAs, who openly gave instructions from platforms erected on the road."
"The most shocking was the formal statement issued by West Bengal police through their official Twitter handle ....Nothing happened to the convoy.... everyone is safe and the situation is peaceful...... (Tweet attached) This blatant untruth from the State Polio HQ, establishes their partisan role," it said further.
The party also reiterated its allegation of political killings in the state and said "political murders have been going on since the Lok Sabha polls and 132 BJP workers have been killed till date."
The party said members of the West Bengal State Government Employees Federation, in a formal meeting in the State Secretariat had given an assurance to the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that they are committed to ensuring her electoral victory in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections "even if it meant risking their lives".
BJP further said that "many cases of discrepancies have been noted in the draft voters list published on November 18, in as much as names of the dead voters and voters who have shifted to another dwelling location have not been deleted. Also, it has been seen; on many occasions, officers are not physically present to receive requests for shifting and deletion or other objections. On the contrary, such requests submitted by the ruling party activists are being complied with."
The party further asked the EC for intervention to ensure the early deployment of CPF, "else the ruling TMC, with the active support of West Bengal Police will make campaign very difficult, resulting in widespread violence."
It also urged the EC to issue a notification and declaration of the MCC, as per provision of Sec 15 of The Representation of the Peoples Act.
"Members of the West Bengal State Government Employees Federation are not used in the poll process from preparation of electoral rolls to conducting the polls, as they have pledged their support to the Chief Minister and the AITC," it said further.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor