Transfers of officials ahead of polls ‘declared President’s Rule’: Mamata

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Friday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the frequent transfer of administrative and police officials ahead of the Assembly elections, terming it “declared President’s Rule” imposed without formal announcement.

“This is not undeclared. The manner in which the poll body is functioning in Bengal at the behest of the BJP — this is declared President’s Rule. It is shameful that elections are being conducted like this. Why is there so much fear?” Banerjee said at a Press conference at her Kalighat residence while releasing the party’s manifesto.

Calling the situation a “shame for democracy”, she alleged a deep-rooted conspiracy to influence the poll process. “They have understood Bengalis cannot be suppressed. Even today, Bengal is being targeted for its language, identity and intellect. The state’s global intellectual presence makes it a target of jealous forces,” she said.

Accusing the poll body of acting as a “mouthpiece” of the BJP, Banerjee said: “Every time the observers ask, we give it. This time the elections are in this state. Do people from other states know Bengal? They don’t know the people here, the culture, harmony, booths or subdivisions. They don’t know the festivals here. Who will see all this? If anything happens after this, the BJP government will be responsible.”

She further alleged that the BJP was desperate to capture power in the state and was using all possible means, with the Election Commission acting as a “primary facilitator”. The “arbitrary removal” of state officials, she claimed, was aimed at influencing the elections by enabling the entry of black money, smuggling of arms and drugs through border areas, and engineering riots.

Banerjee also alleged that a “dangerous blueprint” was being prepared to alter Bengal’s geographical structure by excluding North Bengal and merging parts of neighbouring Bihar to form a new state.

Raising concerns over future electoral processes, she said delimitation, NRC and census-related exercises could be used to remove names of genuine voters from electoral rolls to benefit the ruling party at the Centre.

Criticising privatisation, Banerjee claimed that major public sector entities such as Air India and the Life Insurance Corporation of India were being sold against national interest, while those involved in bank frauds had fled the country.

Calling for unity among Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, she urged voters to reject the BJP’s “politics of fear and inducement” and unite to defend democracy and protect Bengal’s identity, culture and language by supporting the Trinamool Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls.