CPI-M, BJP complain to EC over Trinamool's 'threats' to voters

Kolkata, March 11 (IANS) West Bengal's opposition BJP and CPI-M on Monday complained to the Election Commission that the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders were "threatening the voters".

"There is no democracy in West Bengal. Just after the announcement of the election on Sunday, a Trinamool minister, who also happens to be the Mayor of Kolkata, said that the CRPF will just come for two days and rest of the days, people have to depend on the state police. We believe he was threatening them," state Bharatiya Janata Party Vice President Jay Prakash Majumdar told reporters after an all-party meeting convened by the state's Chief Electoral Officer.

On Sunday, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim had said the state police looks after the law and order throughout the year, and so why everyone was suddenly talking about the central forces.

Asked about the staggered seven-phase poll announced by the Election Commission for the state, Majumdar said: "The point is whether an elaborate election will ensure free and fair polls until and unless there is a proper deployment of the CRPF and other security forces."

He also called for confidence-building exercises among the voters, and alleged that the people were afraid of a repeat of the turmoil the state witnessed during the recent panchayat elections.

Communist Party of India-Marxist State Secretariat member Rabin Deb alleged that Trinamool leader Anubrata Mandal had used threatening words soon after the elections were announced.

"We want to know what is the guarantee that the voters will be able to cast their votes if they go to the polling booth, as our experience in previous years during panchayat elections and the assembly by-polls is diametrically the opposite."

Deb also sought removal of hoardings containing pictures of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from petrol pumps and railway stations.

With the Election Commission launching a new mobile application called 'cVIGIL', with the GIS-enabled app aiming to create a fast-track complaint reception and redressal system, Deb criticised the delay in activating it and expressed apprehension that it would not be used effectively.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, Sanjay Basu said that the matter was being placed before the Election Commission for redressal.

He said that the complaints made by political parties have been noted and will be brought to the EC's notice.