Hooghly (West Bengal) [India], March 22 : Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee accused the Election Commission of acting "whimsically" ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, alleging that the transfer of bureaucrats undermines constitutional principles and voting rights.
Addressing reporters here, Banerjee said the party has approached the court. "We have filed a PIL. Let us wait for that. The Election Commission is acting very whimsically. It is taking away the fundamental right to cast a vote. It is hitting the federal structure of the Constitution. It has imposed an emergency in an indirect manner. This is unfair," he said.
On the supplementary list of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Banerjee expressed concern over possible discrepancies. "There would be some injustices. We will continue to fight against it," he added.
The remarks come amid a political confrontation between the Trinamool Congress and the Centre over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and administrative control during the election period.
On Saturday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the SIR process to remove legitimate voters by labelling them as infiltrators. Addressing a gathering during Eid celebrations, she alleged that voter deletions follow his foreign visits and said such actions target sections of the population.
She also stated that her party will continue to oppose any move that affects voter rights and accused the BJP of attempting to influence governance in the state during the election period.
This comes as West Bengal gears up for its Assembly polls, scheduled to be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with counting of votes slated for May 4.
In West Bengal, the Legislative Assembly consists of 294 seats. The election in 2021 was held in eight phases. Like then, this time too Mamata Banerjee is set to contest from the Bhabanipur seat, from where she will face a repeat clash with BJP leader and West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari.
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