A five-member delegation of Trinamul Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi on Friday seeking its intervention to stop the highhandedness of Central law enforcement agencies before the Lok Sabha elections.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee [Photo:SNS]
A five-member delegation of Trinamul Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi on Friday seeking its intervention to stop the highhandedness of Central law enforcement agencies before the Lok Sabha elections.
The delegation included Derek O’ Brien, Saket Gokhale, Dola Sen and Sagarika Ghosh, all Rajya Sabha MPs and Dr Shashi Panja, state minister for women and child development and social welfare. The delegation has sought an appointment with the Chief Election Commissioner and hopes that an appointment will be given on Monday. Talking to newsmen after submitting the memorandum Dr Shashi Panja said the declaration of the ECI to ensure free and fair election has become a farce because of the highhandedness of the Central agencies. She said the security agencies at the instruction of the BJP were harassing Trinamul leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The ED and CBI had conducted raids at the flat of the party’s nominee from Krishnanagar, Mohua Moitra. Ms Moitra was asked to meet ED officials in Delhi though the ED has an office in Kolkata. “This has affected her campaigning schedule very badly,” Dr Panja said. ED officials raided the house of state minister Chanderanath Sinha in Birbhum. The houses of party workers have been raided. “These raids have been conducted on the instructions of the saffron party,” Dr Panja alleged.
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“Other than the CBI and ED, other agencies such as the NIA and the Income Tax Department have also been unleashed (against Trinamool leaders). And all this is happening only in West Bengal. We feel the ECI has the authority to control this since it is the poll panel’s duty to ensure that elections are held in an unbiased manner in the country,” Dr Panja said.
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