EC observers to visit Nandigram spot today where Mamata was allegedly attacked
The two observers visiting the spot at Birulia Bazar in Nandigram are Ajay V Nayak, the special observer to West Bengal, and Vivek Dubey, a police observer, said an EC official
The Election Commission of India (EC) is sending two observers to Nandigram in East Midnapore district of West Bengal on Friday where chief minister Mamata Banerjee was allegedly attacked on Wednesday.
This follows the poll body’s reply to the Trinamool Congress, stating that the party’s letter regarding the “attack” on Banerjee was full of “insinuations and averments that question the very basis of the creation and functioning of the Election Commission” on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the two observers visiting the spot at Birulia Bazar in Nandigram are: Ajay V Nayak, the special observer to West Bengal, and Vivek Dubey, a police observer, said an EC official.
“The EC has sought a report from the observers on what happened at Birulia Bazar on the evening of March 10. The report is likely to be sent by Friday evening,” said the poll panel official.
The state’s chief secretary has also been asked to send a report on the incident.
Also Read | TMC letter after CM injury full of ‘insinuations, averments’: EC
Nayak, a 1984-batch retired IAS officer, is the former chief electoral officer of Bihar. Dubey, a 1981 batch retired IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh, was the police observer in West Bengal in the 2019 parliament elections also.
The TMC wasn’t happy with the EC’s appointment of Dubey as the police observer. “I am really sorry and shocked. We know all the drama Vivek Dubey created in 2019 (Lok Sabha elections) when he was deputed as the observer here. The same man is being deputed again,” the chief minister had said in February.
The BJP had made deep inroads in West Bengal in the 2019 polls by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. The TMC’s seats dropped from 34 to 22.
Banerjee , who is now admitted in a state-run hospital in Kolkata, had alleged that she was attacked by 4-5 men. She sustained ”bony injuries” in her left ankle, doctors said.
While the TMC called it a ”deep rooted conspiracy” to kill Banerjee, BJP said it was a drama. The Congress and the CPIM too have refused to accept the TMC’s version.
The eight-phase elections for 294 seats of the West Bengal assembly are scheduled to be held between March 27 and April 29. Counting of votes will be held on May 2.
