TMC accuses EC of 'shameless role' in denying voters their democratic rights

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission, accusing it of compromising its constitutional neutrality and attempting to undermine the voting rights of genuine citizens of West Bengal. Addressing a press conference before leaving for Delhi to attend a dinner at Rahul Gandhi's residence for a joint strategy on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and discuss fielding a joint candidate for the VP election, Banerjee said, "The EC also needs to understand and realise that it is an impartial, unbiased organisation and it has to operate within the ambit of the Constitution." The TMC MP went on to accuse the poll body of playing an "active and shameless role" in denying legitimate voters their democratic rights. "Now the EC has taken a shameless role to snatch the voting rights of genuine voters," he alleged. "Yesterday, I saw a report that a residential certificate had been issued under the name of Donald Trump. You should ask the Election Commission about it instead of shooting questions at us," the TMC leader told reporters.

Banerjee claimed that the EC was being used by the BJP as a tool "so that the established Bengalis of Bengal, who speak Bengali and live in Bengal cannot exercise their voting rights." Questioning the EC's mandate, Banerjee alleged that the poll panel was interfering in areas beyond its jurisdiction. Defending the autonomy of the elected state government, Banerjee stressed, "It was voted to power in 2021 by 12 crore people of Bengal. The government is solely committed and accountable to the 12 crore people, not to any political party or any central government."