KOLKATA, April 4: The TMC sought the immediate removal of the returning officer for the Bhabanipur assembly constituency in West Bengal, alleging he has proximity with BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari.
In a representation submitted to Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Friday, the ruling party raised objections to the appointment of RO for the Bhabanipur seat in southern Kolkata.
The party alleged that the returning officer has a “documented and close association” with Adhikari, who is contesting from Bhabanipur against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari is also in the electoral fray from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district.
According to the complaint, the RO had earlier served as block development officer in Nandigram-II, where his proximity to Adhikari was allegedly visible in public engagements.
The TMC claimed that such an association creates a “reasonable apprehension of bias” and “compromises the neutrality” required for conducting elections.
The party also questioned the RO’s current posting as additional director of land records, stating that the position is typically held by more senior officers.
The TMC alleged that his appointment to the role, particularly ahead of elections, raises concerns of “preferential and motivated deployment”.
Emphasising the critical role of a returning officer, the TMC said the official is responsible for key electoral processes, including nomination scrutiny, conduct of polling and declaration of results, and therefore must be “unimpeachably neutral”.
Citing Article 324 of the Constitution and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, the Trinamool Congress argued that the Election Commission is duty-bound to ensure free and fair polls by appointing officers without any perceived bias.
The party also referred to the Model Code of Conduct, which mandates administrative neutrality, and alleged that the RO’s continuation violates these principles.
REAL CULPRITS ESCAPED, NIA HARASSING LOCALS: MAMATA
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday claimed that while the real culprits behind the violence and gherao of judicial officers in Malda district’s Mothabari have escaped, the NIA is picking up innocent local people and harassing them.
Addressing an election rally at Manikchak in Malda, she urged the gathering not to approach judicial officers scrutinising ‘under adjudication’ cases post-SIR, instead submit applications before tribunals for re-inclusion of names of those erroneously removed from the voters’ list.
“Two communal parties gheraoed the judges and escaped. Now, local youths are being harassed by the NIA. They have picked up some 50 innocent people in the name of investigations,” Banerjee said, ostensibly referring to the ISF and the AIMIM.
She let out a gasp of disbelief from the dais after an overwhelming number of hands were raised from those attending the public meeting.
When Banerjee asked for a show of hands of those whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls.
Seven judicial officers were held hostage inside the local BDO office in the Mothabari area of Malda district, and an eighth was confined inside a vehicle for about nine hours on Wednesday.
After a large crowd, protesting post-SIR deletion of names from voters’ lists, turned violent by blocking roads, vandalising vehicles and attacking police personnel. (PTI)
