Mamata Banerjee accuses CEC of threatening Bengal officers at meeting

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of threatening state officials during a meeting on poll preparedness. She also criticised the ongoing SIR exercise, alleging it was being used to deprive people of voting rights

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of threatening state officials during a meeting and warned that “false bravado” by constitutional authorities was not acceptable.

Her remarks came against the backdrop of the Election Commission’s full bench meeting with senior administrative and police officials of the state earlier in the day to review preparedness for the West Bengal assembly elections likely to be held in April.

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Speaking from the site of her dharna in Kolkata against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Banerjee alleged that the CEC had adopted a threatening tone towards the state bureaucracy.

“The CEC threatened our officers today at the meeting. I want to tell the CEC that having courage is good, but false bravado is not good,” she asserted.

According to officials, Kumar said during the meeting that any lapse in maintaining law and order before the elections would not be tolerated and strict action would follow if responsibilities were not discharged properly.

The CEC also questioned the absence of a Narcotics Advisory Committee in the state and asked the officers to strengthen monitoring mechanisms ahead of the polls, they said.

Sharpening her attack on the poll panel, Banerjee alleged that the ongoing SIR exercise was being used to deprive people of their voting rights.

“We have only one point; everyone must be given the right to vote. We want to ensure voting rights for all,” the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

She also claimed that intimidation and deletion of names from electoral rolls were being used as political tools.

“If you think you can capture power by attacking people, intimidating them and removing names from the voters’ list, that will not happen,” the CM said.