Abhishek, Governor, Acting at Political Party’s Behest
Abhishek Banerjee, a senior member of the TMC, criticized West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose on Thursday for his partisan involvement in the present panchayat election campaign and said that he was acting at the direction of a political party. He recommended sending a “constitutional expert like him” to the troubled Manipur.
TMC national general secretary Banerjee questioned why the governor, who has been touring violent neighborhoods, never bothered to pay a visit to the homes of the 80 Bengali victims who perished in the Balasore railway catastrophe.
“I am not a representative of the State Election Commission, hence I will be unable to comment on what the Hon’ble Governor of Bengal has stated to the SEC on his offenses. However, given that the governor holds himself up as the protector of the constitution, I would question him as to why he hasn’t met with individuals denied their just compensation under the Centre’s 100 Days’ Work program, Banerjee added.
His comments were in response to Bose’s Thursday allegations that Rajiva Sinha, the state election commissioner (SEC), had not performed his responsibilities during the panchayat elections.
Why did the governor fail to establish a control center or a peace room for the Odisha railway tragedy victims? He is only running for office under the direction of a political party. The governor is busy carrying out the directions that he has received from Delhi, according to Banerjee. The governor’s position on the ethnic riots in Manipur, which have claimed over 100 lives, was questioned by the TMC MP.
He questioned the governor, saying, “The governor claims that there is blood on the hands of the State Election Commission; I wish to ask him, isn’t there blood on the hands of the central government and the BJP-led state government in Manipur?”
Banerjee said that since the governor has a deep grasp of democratic principles and should visit Manipur right away, the national government should do so.
The de facto TMC number two said in response to the recent violence in the panchayat elections, “The party wants peaceful elections and strives to make elections free of violence.”
“We like orderly elections. The state police will take the required administrative measures if there is violence. Even one death should be condemned, but let’s not allow politics get in the way of the dead. The absence of violence during the elections has been our goal, Banerjee remarked.
In response to claims that the opposition was unable to submit nominations, Banerjee said that more than 2.36 lakh nominations for panchayat elections had been submitted, of which the opposition parties have submitted more than 1.56 lakh.
“We have never seen such a large turnout in panchayat elections. Have the BJP leaders ever considered Tripura or Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP won over 90% of the seats without any opposition?, he said in reference to the discussions about uncontested seats in the panchayat elections.
In addition, the two-term TMC MP denied Suvendu Adhikari’s recent allegations that he was given the position of deputy chief minister as he prepared to quit the party in December 2020, saying that “the party never intended to retain a corrupt leader like him whose name has cropped up in several scams.” Adhikari joined the BJP just a few months before West Bengal’s 2021 assembly elections.
