TMC, BJP engage in war of words over confinement of judicial officers in West Bengal

Kolkata: Even as police arrested 18 persons, including a candidate, for leading a mob that confined seven judicial officers in an office to protest against large-scale deletion of voters from the electoral rolls in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its principal challenger, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), blamed each other for the incident in Malda on Thursday.

“The BJP has hatched many conspiracies, with the support of its government in New Delhi. (Union home minister) Amit Shah is preparing the blueprint of a conspiracy. I appeal to all of you not to fall into the trap,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at a rally in Murshidabad.

“The BJP wants to trigger unrest, get the elections cancelled and set the stage for imposition of the President’s Rule in the state,” she said.

Suvendu Adhikari, the de facto chief ministerial candidate of the BJP in West Bengal, blamed the TMC and alleged that the ruling party had planned and organised the protest and confinement of the seven judicial officers.

“This was planned by the top brass of the TMC in Kolkata under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, herself, and the party’s local leader, Sabina Yasmin, executed the plan on the ground,” he alleged in a news conference in Kolkata.

Sabina is the TMC’s candidate in Sujapur in Malda.

Seven judicial officers, including three women, were gheraoed and held hostage by a large number of villagers at Kaliachak in Malda late on Wednesday to protest against mass disenfranchisement of people as a result of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. They were rescued by the police and paramilitary personnel in the early hours on Thursday.

Similar protests against the large-scale deletions were also reported from other places in Malda as well as in other districts on Wednesday and Thursday.

The police on Thursday arrested 18 people, including a candidate of Indian Secular Front, for allegedly leading the mob that gheraoed the judicial officers.

“People have the right to protest, but nobody should take law into their own hands and do anything against the judges or the judicial officers,” Mamata said in Sagardighi. She slammed the Election Commission for failing to ensure the safety of the judicial officers.

The judicial officers are engaged in adjudicating the cases of the voters, placed in the “under adjudication” category in the list that was published after the SIR on February 28.