West Bengal chief minister and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee (centre) flashes the victory sign during the release of the party’s list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata on Friday as other party leaders look on. (Photo: Abhijit Mukherjee)
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday voiced her strong displeasure over the Election Commission’s decision to stagger the Assembly election in Bengal to six phases. Claiming that total peace prevails in the state, Ms Banerjee questioned the decision.
“In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the polling will be a one-day affair while in Assam it will be held on two days. In Bengal, it will be staggered to six phases and seven days. Polling in one district will be held on two different days. Why always this discrimination against Bengal ” she asked. Ms Banerjee announced the list of Trinamul Congress candidates on Friday. She, however, took pains to explain that she was not targeting the EC because it was a Constitutional body. She directed her ire at the Opposition parties because she believed that it was their persistent complaints that led the EC to draw up a month-long election schedule for West Bengal. “Those who cannot fight us politically, they try to defame Bengal through this kind of a conspiracy,” she added.
Ms Banerjee then declared that the people of Bengal would again facilitate a landslide victory for Trinamul Congress and CPI(M), Congress and BJP will even lose their security deposits. “Our government has done a lot more than what we had promised in 2011. The hand, hammer and lotus ( symbols of Congress, CPI(M) and BJP) will be taught a lesson by the people,” she claimed.
Significantly, if the ruling Trinamul Congress expressed its deep resentment over the EC’s poll schedule, the opposition parties welcomed it. “We have always maintained that the environment in Bengal is not conducive for a free and fair poll. What the EC has done is unprecedented. We thank EC for providing us with a level-playing field,” he added.
Welcoming the decision, CPI(M) MP Mohammad Salim said that now the EC must ensure that deployment of the central forces was not left in the hands of the state police. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said that the EC’s decision was a right step in the right direction.
“However, it is also an embarrassment for Bengal that the election will be conducted in six phases and will continue for over a month,” he added.
