Kolkata, April 8 – A political confrontation erupted in West Bengal on Wednesday following a statement released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that appeared to directly address the Trinamool Congress regarding their responsibility to ensure that the upcoming two-phase state assembly elections would be held without fear, violence, intimidation, or inducement.
On Wednesday, a delegation from the Trinamool Congress visited the ECI headquarters in New Delhi and met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to express the party's concerns over a large number of voter names being removed during the recently concluded judicial process.
Shortly after the meeting, the ECI issued a statement in both Hindi and English, headlined "ECI's Direct Communication with the Trinamool Congress," on its social media platform.
The statement read: "ECI's Direct Communication with the Trinamool Congress. This time, the elections in West Bengal will definitely be: free from fear, free from violence, free from intimidation, free from inducement, and free from any form of coercion, booth manipulation, and source manipulation."
The Trinamool Congress immediately responded by posting a counter-statement in Bengali and English on its social media platform, headlined "Our Direct Communication with @ECISVEEP."
The counter-statement read: "Our Direct Communication with @ECISVEEP. This time, the elections must be: free from Delhi's control, free from political bias, free from selective targeting, and free from double standards."
In another statement, the Trinamool Congress also questioned whether a constitutional body like the ECI could issue such a statement using challenging language. The statement read: "Is this how a neutral constitutional body is expected to behave? To put it bluntly: Take off your mask now!"
On Wednesday, Derek O'Brien, a member of the Trinamool Congress delegation and the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha, accused CEC Gyanesh Kumar of "non-cooperation" during the meeting. O'Brien also accused CEC Kumar of misbehaving with them and asking them to "Get Lost."
"We could not say anything at the meeting. Nothing was discussed there. It seemed that the CEC was talking to himself," O'Brien told reporters after leaving the ECI office.
However, ECI insiders said that CEC Kumar repeatedly requested the Trinamool Congress delegates to refrain from raising their voices and to be careful about using unparliamentary language.
