TMC asks EC to release transcript of meeting with party’s delegation amid SIR debate

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday challenged the Election Commission of India to release a transcript of the meeting of a party delegation with the panel’s top brass, as it once again alleged several deaths in West Bengal during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

At a press conference here, TMC MPs, including the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale and Lok Sabha MPs Pratima Mondal and Sajda Ahmed, accused the poll panel of not answering their questions.

O’Brien also said that they want the functioning of the Election Commission to be discussed in the upcoming Parliament session.

A ten-member TMC delegation met the EC top brass on Friday, and accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of having “blood on his hands”, amid allegations of deaths related to the SIR process in West Bengal.

EC officials, meanwhile, said that they told the TMC delegation that while political rhetoric is their prerogative, they should refrain from spreading “misinformation” relating to election procedures.

Speaking at the press conference, O’Brine accused the poll panel of spreading “false narratives”. He also questioned why the EC could not issue an official press release over the issue.

“Some fake narrative may come out again. Because what will happen? Who is pressurising these BLOs? Let it be known today on the 29th of November, the BLOs are being pressurised because of the work they have been given through the Election Commission of India,” O’Brien said.