Responding to the Trinamool Congress' (TMC) letter over the Nandigram incident in which West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured, the Election Commission of India on Thursday, 11 March, called it “full of insinuations and averments.”
Banerjee was allegedly attacked while campaigning in Nandigram on Wednesday, following which the ECI had sought a report on the incident.
A delegation of leaders from the TMC, comprising MP Derek O'Brien, and state ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya and Partha Chatterjee, had on Thursday visited the Election Commission office in Kolkata to file a complaint over the alleged attack.
“It is rather unfortunate that the memorandum in question is full on insinuations and averments which in fact questions the very basis of creation and functioning of Election Commission,” the Commission said, adding that it is “completely incorrect to suggest that the Commission has taken over law and order machinery in the state in the name of conducting elections and appropriated the whole governance structure.”
The poll body said that the incident “needs to be inquired into with promptitude and dispatch.”
In a letter submitted to the EC, the party had insinuated a link between the removal of the erstwhile DGP Virendra and the “brazen” attack, and alleged that it was “deep-rooted conspiracy to take the life of our Chairperson.”
Commenting on the removal of the DGP, the ECI said: “DGP was not removed summarily and without any application of mind. It was the outcome of the recommendations given by Special Observers, Shri Ajay Naik and Shri Vijay Dube.”
‘Deep Rooted Conspiracy’: TMC
Speaking to the media after meeting the poll body on Thursday, O’Brien said, “Those responsible for this heinous incident need to be brought to book. It was in such poor taste that within 30 minutes, there were other kinds of statements. We condemn those statements. Talk to doctors and see what happened.”
Meanwhile, Partha Chatterjee had said that the EC has to take responsibility for the attack on Mamata Banerjee and alleged that the poll body is acting on the orders of the BJP, reported PTI.
A TMC Parliamentary delegation is also scheduled to meet the EC in Delhi on Friday over the incident. Six MPs from both Houses are in the national capital.
Spreading Lies About Attack: BJP
Meanwhile, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had also met EC officials in Kolkata to complain against Mamata’s accusation and seek a probe.
According to a report by NDTV, the BJP said it would lodge a complaint with the polls body that she's "spreading lies about attack for politics".
“We will ask for a high-level probe into the attack, how it happened, who was responsible...We will also demand that local police officers be suspended since this happened on their watch,” Bengal BJP vice president Pratap Banerjee told NDTV.
In their letter to the poll body, BJP has called the breach of security “alarming” and demanded that the video footage of the incident be made public to “clear the air.”
What Happened to Mamata?
The doctor who is treating her had said that she had suffered severe bone injuries on her ankle and shoulder and will be kept under observation for 48 hours.
"Four or five people came in front of the car and pushed the door. This was done purposely," the CM had said right after the incident, adding that no local police was present at the spot when the incident took place, and called it a “conspiracy”.
Photos emerged of the CM lying in a hospital bed, her leg in a cast.
The police registered a case over the attack, following a complaint lodged by TMC leader Shiekh Sufian, PTI reported.
The alleged attack came just a few days before the eight-phase elections in West Bengal, starting 27 March.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and NDTV.)
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