Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose accusing him of interfering with the election process ahead of the Lok Sabha poll.
“Beyond the confines of Article 324(6) of the Constitution, which specifies the contours and the role of the Governor, the Governor has no role to play in the election process. Any role sought to be played by the Governor, as is being done with the purported portal, is not only unauthorised but also tantamount to interference with the election process and transgresses into the powers of the exclusively demarcated for the ECI under the Constitution,” the TMC letter stated.
This comes days after Bose launched a portal named ‘Log Sabha’ to directly connect with the people during the Lok Sabha polls. The Raj Bhavan had said in a statement on Sunday that any citizen can send their suggestions and grievances to the Governor on the dedicated email.
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“In other words, the Governor is seeking to operate a system parallel to the one run by the ECI to oversee, control and supervise the ensuing elections, with scant regards to the powers, duties and responsibilities of the ECI,” the letter stated.
Senior ECI officials refused to comment. The Raj Bhavan in Kolkata didn’t issue any statement till reports last came in.
On Wednesday, Bose rushed to Dinhata in Cooch Behar in north Bengal where a clash broke out the previous night between TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in the presence of Udayan Guha, state minister and Nisith Pramanik, Union minister of state for home.
Both the ECI and Governor had also sought reports on the clash from the state police and the district administration separately.
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The TMC has sought that the Governor be restrained from allegedly running a parallel electioneering system and from allegedly interfering with the powers and functions of the ECI.
“The TMC is afraid that if free and fair elections are held they would be wiped out. So, whenever any steps are being taken in an attempt to make the polls free, fair and transparent, the TMC is getting jittery. They are going all out to ensure that free and fair elections are not held,” said Rahul Sinha, BJP leader.
