New Delhi [India], May 2 : In a sharp rebuke of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), BJP leader Nalin Kohli mocked the party's frequent legal challenges and praised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for ordering repolls in West Bengal.
Kohli's remarks come after the Supreme Court declined to grant the TMC's plea regarding the ECI's appointment of counting supervisors, a move the ruling party in West Bengal had contested.
Speaking with ANI, Kohli highlighted what he described as a pattern of "daily" litigation by the TMC. He noted that the Supreme Court's refusal to entertain their latest application serves as a validation of the current electoral processes.
"One must give credit to the SC for hearing every application despite having a large number of them," Kohli stated, adding that the court's decision not to accept the plea was a significant blow to the TMC's legal strategy.
Addressing the volatile situation in West Bengal, Kohli praised the high democratic engagement while simultaneously condemning the TMC for alleged voter suppression and interference.
Kohli noted a voter turnout of nearly 93%, attributing the success of the high participation to the ECI and security forces. Following reports of booth capturing and interference, the ECI ordered repolling in several locations. Kohli described the move as necessary and expected.
The BJP leader cited "shocking" footage from various booths, alleging that TMC functionaries were seen taping out the BJP logo on electronic voting machines (EVMs).
"The ECI and security forces deserve credit for conducting elections in West Bengal where there was a huge turnout of voters - close to 93%... About the repolling, it was expected as the visuals that had come out of these booths were shocking and confirmed that TMC and their functionaries were interfering in the democratic process by taping out the BJP logo and the ECI is only doing what was expected," said Kohli.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal clarified that the Supreme Court has not merely dismissed Trinamool Congress's petition over the deployment of central government employees for counting of votes, but rather agreed to their contention of implementing the Election Commission's circular.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Kapil Sibal said that the ECI's circular itself called for deploying both central government and state government employees on the day of counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The apex court noted that no further orders were necessary in the case, except asking the Election Commission to implement the circular dated April 13 in true letter and spirit.
Sibal told reporters, "I do not comment on matters which I am representing in the court; however, this is an exception. In the High Court, the TMC had argued that the circular was wrong because it says that the Election Commission anticipates irregularities in counting on some booths, so every booth will have one central government officer deployed. A micro observer as the centre government's nominee is anyway present at the booths. The High Court said that the circular was correct".
In the Supreme Court, we decided not to challenge the circular; instead urged the court to implement the circular. The same circular read, 'Further, a dedicated module is being incorporated in ECINET for randomisation of counting personnel and generating a counting ID card.' It mentions the random selection of state and central government employees from respective databases for counting. In the Supreme Court, we argued that you are deploying a central government employee; deploy a state government employee, too. We were not challenging the circular; we said that implement it. The SC said that the Election Commission will follow the circular issued by them both in letter and in spirit. The media saying that our petition has been dismissed is wrong," the advocate for the petitioner in the case added.
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