EC rejects response of WB chief secy, asks Mamata to respond

Taking an exception, Election Commission today rejected the response of the West Bengal Chief Secretary to its show cause notice issued to Mamata Banerjee for prima facie violating the model code, and gave her a three-day deadline to respond personally.

In a strongly-worded letter issued to Mamata, the poll watchdog made it clear that the notice was issued to her in her capacity as Trinamool Congress head and not as the chief minister of West Bengal and if she fails to respond by April 22, a decision will be taken without further reference to her.

Rejecting the response sent by Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee, the Commission, in a separate communication, pulled him up saying it was not "appropriate" for the state government to respond to a show cause notice related to model code violation.

In its letter to Mamata, EC noted that no response was received from her and said "the Commission, hereby makes it clear that the aforesaid notice was issued to you for MCC violation related to you as Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress and not to the state government of West Bengal.

"...Therefore, the reply to that notice should have come to the Commission from you and not from (Chief Secretary) Basudeb Banerjee."

While in the first notice she was referred to as Chief Minister, West Bengal, this time Banerjee has been referred to as Chairperson, Trinamool Congress.

Questioning the way Basudeb Banerjee had "defended" the action of the CM in promising a new district when the model code is in force, EC told him that the use of the words "by order of the Chief Minister" in the response was "avoidable" and hoped that he will not use such a language in future.

The West Bengal chief secretary had written to the Commission on behalf of the Trinamool Congress chief, who was served with a show cause notice last week for announcing creation of a new district in the state where elections are being held.

A defiant Mamata had responded to the EC missive at an election rally by saying that "on the first day of the Bengali new year, the EC has sent me a show cause notice over things I had said. I will say it again, I will say it a thousand times."

The Commission has already shunted out Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar over allegations of bias towards the ruling party.

The letter, issued today here by the poll panel is learnt to have been received by Banerjee this afternoon.