Mamata Banerjee misleading state civil service officials in Bengal: LoP Adhikari

Kolkata, Aug 7 (IANS) West Bengal Leader of the Opposition and veteran BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday, accused the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading the West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) cadre officials by not taking any action against the four election officers in the state, whose suspension from services have been recommended by the Election Commission of India (ECI). 

The four election officers were allegedly found guilty of involvement in the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls of two Assembly seats in two districts.

LoP Adhikari issued an appeal to the WBSC officers on Thursday and asked them not to listen to the Chief Minister and instead perform their duties as per the Constitutional provisions.

He alleged that associates of political consultancy firm I-PAC, which works with Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, have infiltrated the electoral system and were indulging in various electoral malpractices.

"WBCS officers, be sure, Mamata Banerjee is only shedding crocodile tears. Her real intent to oppose the ECI-directed suspension of errant election officers is not to save you but to save I-PAC and its associates, who have infiltrated the electoral management system in the avatar of data entry operators. Over years, they have mastered the art of scientific rigging by enrolling fictitious voters, randomly deleting the names of Hindu voters, and enrolling Bangladeshi Muslims as voters," LoP Adkhikari wrote in the appeal.

The statement from the BJP leader came a day after Chief Minister Banerjee questioned the Election Commission's authority over the suspension of Bengal officials for alleged "lapses" in the preparation of electoral rolls.

The Chief Minister on Thursday asserted that her government stands with its employees and questioned the constitutional validity of the EC's actions.

Reacting to CM Banerjee's remarks, LoP Adkhikari in its appeal said that years of neglect and pressure from the seniors of WBCS officers have led then to compromise the discharge of their statutory functions, which have been usurped by I-PAC and its associates, who are being heavily paid from the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by the Trinamool Congress.

He also asked the WBCS officers to discharge their duties without fear.

"In the interest of the future of our beloved state and your next generation, it is high time that you assert your legal rights to discharge your Constitutional duties. Mamata Banerjee sacrificed her Ministers, MLAs, and partymen who are in jail, and now she is only interested in protecting herself and her nephew, and no one else. So do your duties without fear or favour and Goddess Kali will save you from the Chief Minister's tentacles," LoP Adhikari said.