SC panel members talking like BJP spokespersons: TMC

KOLKATA: Coming down heavily on the allegation made by the chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Caste that there had been rampant poll violence in Bengal, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Trinamool Congress MP on Friday said such a statement by a responsible person was uncalled for. He alleged that the Commission members were talking like BJP spokespersons.

Roy said the Commission should know that Trinamool Congress had lodged more than 3,000 complaints of violence to the Election Commission during the polls and afterwards but the poll panel did not pay any heed to those.

On the contrary, immediate action was taken on the complaints lodged by the BJP, he claimed. "Before coming to Bengal, they should have studied the history of violence and the reign of terror that had been unleashed by the Left Front government," he said

On Friday, the two-member Commission led by Chairman Vijay Sampla and Vice-Chairman Arun Halder made an unscheduled visit to Amtala in South 24-Parganas and went to the house of Avijit Das (Bobby), a BJP state committee member.

When the police officers accompanying the members of the National Commission refused to enter the premises of the district party office of the BJP during the election, they were allegedly scolded by the Commission members.

Earlier, the Commission members went to the house of Gayatri Mandal, mother of Bhaskar Mandal at Nabasan, Sarisha, Diamond Harbour and talked to her. Mandal said she was receiving food and logistic support from the district administration. Suddenly, some local BJP leaders appeared on the scene and began to give statements to the Commission members.

The Commission members visited East Burdwan, where three persons, two Trinamool and one BJP supporter, were killed in violence. Senior state government officials told them that the next of the kin of the deceased would receive Rs 8.25 lakh as compensation and so far they had received Rs 4.17 lakh. The officials also told them that 313 people had left the village of whom 206 had returned and the district administration would make arrangements to help them to return to the villages.

The Commission members told the officials that they had the information that 600 people had left the villages. However, they could not furnish names of the persons. SK Thade, OSD (retired) in the rank of Principal Secretary, A. Subbiah, Principal Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare department and senior police officials met the Commission members.