TMC delegation meets CEC over Saket's arrest

new delhi: A five-member parliamentary delegation of Trinamool Congress met the chief election commissioner (CEC) on Monday "to raise the alleged violation of the Representation of People's Act" in connection with the

arrest of the party's spokesperson Saket Gokhale by the Gujarat Police.

Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, MP and Chief Whip, Lok Sabha Kalyan Banerjee, MP and Chief Whip, Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Noor and Parliamentary party leader of Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien were part of the delegation.

While speaking to the media after registering the protest, senior Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy said,

"The delegation met the CEC over the harassment and torture of our national spokesperson. We told him that he was arrested once in Ahmedabad and a case was also lodged against him in Morbi while the model code of conduct was in force."

"We also said that he had been wrongly charged under Section 125 (of the Representation of the People Act) which is not attracted by what he tweeted. So, this is a case of harassment," he added.

Further, Roy asserted why the section was not raised when Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa

Sarma reportedly "preached and fanned communalism and hatred towards religious minorities

while campaigning in the recently held assembly elections in Gujarat" or against Paresh Rawal, former MP of the BJP, who "preached hatred against the Bengali community while campaigning in the run-up of Gujarat assembly election."

RTI activist-turned-politician Saket Gokhale tweeted a news clipping on December 1 about information purportedly obtained through an RTI application, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi after the bridge collapse cost Rs 30 crore.

Soon after, the Press Information Bureau tweeted a 'fact check', saying the information was fake. An FIR was registered against Gokhale on charges of forgery and printing defamatory content, and he was subsequently arrested twice.