lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 13, 2019 23:52 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday asked the election commission (EC) to declare West Bengal, where it is fighting a pitched battle against the Trinamool Congress (TMC), as a “super-sensitive state” to ensure free and fair elections.

The party also wants “independent media observers” sent to the state, to allow the media to function with neutrality. “The media is browbeaten in Bengal…”, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told mediapersons after meeting the poll panel.

“Observers must give independent feedback to the Election Commission,” he said.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hit back and said that by demanding that the entire state be declared highly sensitive, the BJP has insulted people of Bengal. “The people of this state want a free, fair and peaceful election, but the BJP doesn’t,” she added, alleging that the BJP is already shipping in thugs from neighbouring states such as Jharkhand to trigger violence during the polls.

She also refuted Prasad’s claim on media freedom and said the suppression of media is the “BJP’s culture”.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an EC official said they have sought from the state chief election officer. A former EC official said on condition of anonymity that there is no concept of independent media observers to watch over elections and that the Press Council of India, which serves as a regulator for print media, already has norms for checking paid news.

The delegation of BJP leaders also told the poll panel that central forces should be deployed at all polling booths in the state; officials whose “electoral impartiality is questionable” should be withdrawn from poll duty; and that action should be taken against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for making remarks against PM Narendra Modi.

At a rally in Gujarat on Tuesday, Gandhi accused Modi of having “stolen” Rs 30,000 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and giving it to businessman Anil Ambani as part of the Rafale deal.

Also read: 10 sitting MPs dropped as Trinamool releases list for 2019 elections

Rejecting BJP’s charge, Congress secretary Pranav Jha said: “It is indeed a supreme irony that a party and PM who have violated India’s constitution, its social fabric and institutional framework are complaining of violating code of conduct. “

Prasad, who was accompanied by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and JP Nadda and the party’s general secretaries Bhupender Yadav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, said: “There are certain officials who are very, very biased towards the ruling dispensation [in Bengal] and must be completely withdrawn.”

In Kolkata, Banerjee countered the Union minister by asking whether the BJP wants officers to ensure that all votes go to the saffron party?

Though Prasad did not name any official, he said the names have been submitted to the poll panel. BJP leaders familiar with the matter said former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is one such official. Kumar is now in charge of key police units in the state. Prasad also said the party flagged the incidents of violence that were reported in the state during the local body elections.

Also read: Three Bengal Opposition leaders including a TMC MP join BJP