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Dissatisfied with first meet, TMC to again approach EC over attack on Mamata Banerjee
Expressing displeasure over the previous meeting with the poll watchdog, the TMC alleged on Thursday that the EC did nothing about the whole matter ‘despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee’.
A six-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by its Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy will meet officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi for the second time in 24 hours on Friday over the alleged attack on party chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, according to news agency ANI. The delegation already flown to the national capital includes Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien and Lok Sabha MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Satabdi Roy, Pratima Mondal and Santanu Sen.
Expressing displeasure over the previous meeting with the poll watchdog, the TMC alleged on Thursday that the EC did nothing about the whole matter ‘despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee’. TMC’s secretary general Partha Chatterjee, who was a part of the first meeting on Thursday, slammed the commission for failing to perform its duties and responsibilities and added that those responsible for the attack should be located and tried with a proper probe.
“The TMC election committee strongly condemns the attack on Mamata Banerjee, and since elections are taking place under the Election Commission, it is their duty to prevent such an incident,” Chatterji added. Citing lapses in Banerjee’s security cover on Wednesday, he questioned the commission’s failure to provide protection and also submitted a complaint to the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO) saying Banerjee was threatened due to EC’s takeover of Bengal’s law and order machinery. “We met the CEO today on the attack on CM. We condemn the way election commission remained alienated on state’s law and order situation,” the TMC leader told reporters after submitting the complaint.
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The Election Commission reacted sharply and said the complaint was full of ‘insinuation and averments’ that question its creation and functioning. It expressed concerns over the alleged attack on Banerjee and said that the life, security of the chief minister and the home minister has to be duly protected by all those that are in charge of maintaining the law and order machinery of the state.
Meanwhile, Banerjee who is currently undergoing treatment at Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital said that she would return to election campaigning in the next two to three days and urged supporters to maintain peace and refrain from doing anything that might cause inconvenience to anyone. The Bengal CM has sustained injuries in her hand, leg and ligament after she alleged that she was attacked by unidentified men in Nandigram on Wednesday evening after she had offered prayers at a local temple and was about to leave the spot.
