'EC is bonded labour of BJP': Mamata slams poll body for suspending Bengal officials over voter roll lapses

Jhargram: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission (EC) for suspending four state government officers and a data entry operator over alleged lapses in preparing the electoral rolls, questioning the legality of the move and accusing the poll panel of acting at the behest of the BJP.

State government workers are being intimidated, Banerjee alleged.

"The officers were served suspension notices yesterday. Have the elections even been announced yet? Which law allows them to be suspended at this stage? It is our responsibility to protect you all. We will do that. We will not suspend them,” Banerjee asserted while addressing a public meeting.

The Trinamool Congress supremo accused the EC of trying to intimidate government officials and said her administration would stand by its employees.

“They have started suspending people even though a long time is left before the elections. They (ECI) are the bonded labour of the BJP. They are acting as agents of (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and the BJP. The home minister thinks whatever he says will happen,” Banerjee alleged.

Her remarks came a day after the Election Commission suspended four officers - two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) - and a data entry operatorand a casual worker in West Bengal for allegedly committing irregularities while preparing electoral rolls in Baruipur Purba and Moyna assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts, respectively.

In a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, EC Secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra said that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state had forwarded a report detailing “wrongful addition of names” in the voter lists of the two constituencies.

Based on the report, the poll panel suspended with immediate effect Debottam Dutta Choudhury (ERO) and Tathagata Mondal (AERO) of Baruipur Purba, and Biplab Sarkar (ERO) and Sudipta Das (AERO) of Moyna. A data entry operator was also suspended.

The EC has directed that FIRs be lodged against all five, and disciplinary proceedings initiated for their alleged failure to follow directions issued by the Commission.

The issue took a political turn with BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya alleging that the officers had compromised the integrity of the electoral roll at the behest of the ruling TMC.

Mamata protests alleged attacks on Bengali migrants

Banerjee on Wednesday also condemned the alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants and accused the BJP of orchestrating a campaign to harass Bengalis in the name of citizenship and voter list revision.

The TMC chief said if needed, she will expose the BJP and the Centre over the alleged attacks on Bengali language and Bengal's people.

"They (BJP) are saying there is no language called Bengali. I will expose them before the world," Banerjee said, adding, "If you attack Bengali language and Bengal's people, I will not stay silent."

Taking a dig at the BJP over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Trinamool Congress chief said, "Not a single elector should be omitted from the voter list in the name of SIR. They are trying to make a BJP list, not a voter list."

Banerjee further alleged that the SIR exercise was part of a larger plan to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the backdoor.

"The ploy behind SIR is to bring the NRC through the backdoor. People are already dying by suicide out of fear," she alleged.

"How can someone be branded a Bangladeshi just because he or she speaks in Bengali?" the chief minister asked. "This is nothing but a conspiracy to harass our people."

Slamming the BJP's demand for documents to prove citizenship, Banerjee said, "Do BJP leaders themselves have their birth certificates? What right do they have to question the identity of others?"