State government workers are being intimidated, Mamata alleged.
“The officers were served suspension notices yesterday. Have the elections even been announced yet? Which law allows them to be suspended at this stage? It is our responsibility to protect you all. We will do that. We will not suspend them,” she asserted while addressing a public meeting.
The Trinamool Congress supremo accused the EC of trying to intimidate government officials and said her administration would stand by its employees.
“They have started suspending people even though a long time is left before the elections. They (ECI) are the bonded labour of the BJP. They are acting as agents of (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and the BJP. The Home Minister thinks whatever he says will happen,” Mamata alleged.
In a striking remark targeting Shah, Mamata said: “Are you acting as Amit Shah’s agents while sitting in your EC chairs? Does the Home Minister think whatever he says will happen, and the rest of the country must obey?”
Mamata claimed the BJP had “won through deception” in past elections and was now attempting to repeat the formula with the EC’s backing.
“You suddenly saw a 20 per cent vote surge. With whose help? With EC’s! You didn’t even win a majority. Now you want to remove names from the list to conduct NRC through the back door. That will not happen. This is Bengal,” she said.
Accusing the BJP of planning a “backdoor NRC”, the Chief Minister said the saffron party wanted to target minorities and Opposition supporters by tampering with voter rolls.
“They are referring to a 2002 list. How many people have died since then? How many have been born? You want to delete names based on a two-decade-old list? That is not going to happen here,” Mamata said.
The Chief Minister’s speech, delivered with characteristic firebrand rhetoric, repeatedly returned to the theme of solidarity with government employees.
“I will continue to be your pehredar. When no one raises their voice for you, I will. Bengal government workers should not worry. You work for the people, and it is our duty to look after you. Do not be afraid. Do not feel hopeless,” she said.
Mamata’s remarks came a day after the Election Commission suspended four officers – two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) – and a data entry operator and a casual worker in West Bengal for allegedly committing irregularities while preparing electoral rolls in Baruipur Purba and Moyna Assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts, respectively.
“They (EC) have started suspending people even though a long time is left before the elections.They (ECI) are the bonded labour of the BJP. They are acting as agents of (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and the BJP.The Home Minister thinks whatever he says will happen.”— Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
In a letter to state Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, EC Secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra said that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state had forwarded a report detailing “wrongful addition of names” in the voter lists of the two constituencies.
Based on the report, the poll panel suspended with immediate effect Debottam Dutta Choudhury (ERO) and Tathagata Mondal (AERO) of Baruipur Purba, and Biplab Sarkar (ERO) and Sudipta Das (AERO) of Moyna. A data entry operator was also suspended.
While leading a massive protest rally in tribal-heartland Jhargram, the Chief Minister on Wednesday condemned the alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants and accused the BJP of orchestrating a campaign to harass Bengalis in the name of citizenship and voter list revision.
Mamata said if needed, she will expose the BJP and the Centre over the alleged attacks on Bengali language and Bengal’s people.
“They (BJP) are saying there is no language called Bengali. I will expose them before the world,” Banerjee said, adding, “If you attack Bengali language and Bengal’s people, I will not stay silent.”
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