If he’s Singham, I am Pushpa: TMC leader after UP-cadre IPS visits his house, faces protest

Trinamool Congress supporters protested in Falta, accusing IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma of voter intimidation ahead of polls, while officials said his visit followed complaints against candidate Jahangir Khan over alleged coercion

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supporters held a protest in South 24 Parganas district’s Falta on Tuesday, accusing Election Commission-appointed IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre Ajay Pal Sharma of “intimidating” party workers and leaders ahead of the second phase of polling in West Bengal.

Senior TMC leaders and ministers alleged that the IPS officer was overstepping his role. The 2011-batch IPS officer faced protests from TMC supporters, who raised ‘Jai Bangla’ in front of the residence as well as the election office of local TMC candidate Jahangir Khan, officials said.

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A poll panel official said Sharma visited the area after the Election Commission received reports that Khan’s men were allegedly collecting voter identity cards from people in the constituency and threatening them.

During the visit, the IPS officer, who has earned the moniker ‘Singham’ (daredevil) in Uttar Pradesh, said that he would not allow the candidate or his associates to intimidate the voters.
Officials said Sharma is among the 95 observers deployed by the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polling in the second phase.

Reacting to the development, TMC candidate Khan alluded to the Telugu-language action film ‘Pushpa’ and the Bollywood cop movie ‘Singham’ to say he would not allow “BJP-appointed police officials to threaten voters”. “This is Bengal; if he is ‘Singham’, I am ‘Pushpa’. No amount of threat or coercion by the BJP-appointed police officials from Uttar Pradesh will be allowed in Falta,” he said on Tuesday.

“They came with forces and tried to pressure my people and me. Such actions are not acceptable in a democratic system.” Eyewitnesses said that Sharma had visited the TMC candidate’s house late on Monday night and said that the authorities would take “firm and immediate steps” if there were reports of voter intimidation.

Falta falls under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat represented by Abhishek Banerjee. Objecting to the steps taken by Sharma, senior TMC leaders and ministers alleged that the IPS officer was overstepping his role.

“The media has given him the name ‘encounter specialist’. We wonder what such a police officer is doing here? Can he visit a house at night and issue a threat? Has he been given the charge of arresting people without a shred of evidence? “We condemn such things. It seems he has been brought in to disturb peace in one pretext or another?” West Bengal minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.

Another minister, Aroop Biswas, said, “Observers are expected to remain neutral. Any attempt to act beyond constitutional limits or target a particular party will be challenged legally.” TMC MP Mahua Moitra shared a video on X showing a man dancing at a pub and tagged the officer in the post and said, “Good to see you enjoying yourself… Hope your policing skills are better than your dancing skills.”