TMC 2.0 is born, but will it find a place in the Sun?
It's official now, the Trinamul Congress (TMC) party has split, with the majority of 59 out of 80 MLAs opting out of the party founded and led by Mamata Banerjee.
Coming down heavily on the Election Commission of India, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Trinamul Mahila Congress president and state finance minister said democracy faces the biggest crisis when a constitutional authority starts behaving like the back office of a political party.
A five-member delegation met the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal Manoj Agarwal and submitted a memorandum. The delegation included Chandrima Bhattacharya, Mahua Moitra, Pratima Mondol, Partha Bhowmick and education minister Bratya Basu.
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Mrs Bhattacharya alleged that despite clear cut Supreme Court directions on transparency and integrity, instructions affecting people’s franchise are being circulated via WhatsApp groups.
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The letter to CEO read: “It has come to our notice that Special Roll Observer (SRO) Shri C. Murugan and certain roll observers, acting under directions conveyed in the name of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal Shri Manoj Kumar Agarwal, are issuing instructions to Micro-Observers through WhatsApp groups directing them not to accept birth certificates issued by Gram Panchayats. Such directions are legally untenable, administratively improper, and amount to a direct violation of statutory provisions…”
She further alleged that the micro observers meant only to assist are overstepping into statutory domains reserved for EROs and AEROs. She urged the ECI to explain these irregularities and reaffirm its independence before public trust erodes further.
Mahua Moitra, Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha MP alleged that the ECI has deliberately deleted the names of women and voters belonging to the minority community. She alleged that despite the Supreme Court order the ECI has refused to accept certain documents, which were submitted during the hearing of logical discrepancy cases.
Partha Bhowmick, party’s Lok Sabha MP alleged that the ECI was still giving instructions in WhatsApp flouting the Supreme Court instructions.
The TMC team also alleged that there have been allegations regarding the remote misuse of roll-observer login credentials and targeted actions relating to deletion or review of electoral entries in different assembly constituencies. “It has been reported that login credentials assigned to officers posted in one district are being accessed and operated from entirely different locations,” the letter mentioned.
Trinamul Congress leaders said the CEO has received their letter and assured that he would look into the matter.
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