No action against election officers: Mamata Banerjee defies EC

Kolkata, Aug 6 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her administration will not take any action against the four election officers in the state against whom the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed immediate suspension and lodging of affairs for their involvement in the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls of two Assembly seats should be considered as the commission's first note of caution for all involved in the electoral process in the state.

A clear instruction on the count came from ECI to West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Tuesday.

However, just a day after that, the Chief Minister made it clear that her administration will not take any action against this errant election officer, two electoral returning officers (EROs) and two assistant electoral returning officers (AEROs).

She made this claim while addressing a rally at the Jhargram town in Jhargram district on Wednesday after conducting a protest rally there against the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, the second such rally led by Chief Minister Banerjee on this issue, the first being at Bolpur in Birbhum district last month.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister also questioned the authority of the ECI in directing the state government to suspend four officers, who were actually state government employees.

"The election in West Bengal is far away. But the commission had already become overactive in the state. The process of suspending state government officials has started. They are threatening the administrative and police officers of the state government. They are playing in the hands of the BJP and the Union Home Ministry," Chief Minister Banerjee said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister once again reiterated her previous claim that the proposed special intensive review planned by the commission in West Bengal was nothing but an indirect ploy to impose the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that the announcement of the Chief Minister on not taking any action against the four election officers as directed by the ECI proves her disrespect towards constitutional bodies.

He also added that the fear of getting the names of illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi voters from the voters' list in West Bengal had made Chief Minister Banerjee so desperate.

--IANS

src/khz