The Election Commission has sent show-cause notice to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Jitendra Tiwari for announcing monetary reward to councillors who would fetch maximum lead for the party candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. The Commission sent him a notice hours after the state BJP filed a written complaint against four TMC leaders, including Tiwari.

“We have sent show-cause notice to Jitendra Tiwari and sought an explanation from District Magistrate Cooch Behar over the allegation of breach of Model Code of Conduct (MCC),” said an Election Commission official on condition of anonymity.

TMC MLA Jitendra Tiwari courted controversy on Tuesday after he promised party councillors with contracts worth lakhs of rupees if they ensured victory of TMC Lok Sabha candidate Moon Moon Sen from their respective wards.

The complaint filed with the EC accuses TMC leaders Firhad Hakim, Anubrata Mondal, Jitendra Tiwari and Rabindranath Ghosh of violating the MCC. A team of BJP leaders who met EC officials also accused the Commission of being biased towards the ruling party. The EC officials, however, refused to comment on it.

“Jitendra Tiwari, chairman of Asansol Municipal Corporation, promised huge money to councillors if they could manage a good lead for the TMC candidate. On March 10, Firhad Hakim said that the CRPF and central observers will be available for a few days, after which the law and order will be looked after by the state police. Anubrata Mondal, TMC president of Birbhum district, is a habitual offender when it comes to violatiion of MCC. His speech has often incited violence. Rabidranath Ghosh, TMC president of Cooch Behar, promoted violence against police and booth officials. Two days ago, he made speech against the central force and also encouraged party workers to rig the vote,” reads the complaint filed by the BJP leaders.

“We have sought factual report in the other two cases related to Firhad Hakim and Anu-brata Mondal,” added an official.

Later in the day, the CPM also submitted a complaint against Tiwari. “It is a clear case of corrupt practices and violation of MCC. We demand immediate action,” read a letter signed by Rabin Deb, member of CPM State Secretariat, West Bengal.

Tiwari, while conducting an election committee meeting in the presence of LS candidate Moonmoon Sen, promised contracts worth Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh to the councillors depending on the number of votes polled in her favour.

“If you are able to get a lead of more than 5,000 votes in your ward, I promise you to give contracts worth Rs 1 crore, if you manage to get a lead of 3,000 votes, you will get contracts worth Rs 50 lakh. If you manage a lead of 2,000 and 1,000 votes, you will be given contracts worth Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively,” he said.

In the video that went viral, Tiwari was also heard saying if any councillor failed to ensure a lead of votes, he or she should resign from the post.

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