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Didi won when elections were impartial: Akhilesh Yadav after meeting Mamata Banerjee
Akhilesh Yadav alleged West Bengal polls were manipulated through a “multi-layer mafia operation” after meeting Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that the recent West Bengal assembly elections were manipulated through a “multi-layer mafia operation” and said Mamata Banerjee became chief minister when “elections were impartial,” after meeting the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief at her Kolkata residence.
“When elections were impartial, Didi (elder sister) became chief minister. This time there was a multi-layer mafia operation. The Bharatiya Janata Party, Election Commission of India, their underground people, [and] Central paramilitary forces conducted the polls,” he said outside Banerjee’s Kalighat residence after meeting her.
Promising support from leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, Yadav said, “I can say that leaders of all parties will meet. We have to work together to save democracy.”
Yadav alleged that the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, in which his government was ousted, were a “trial run” for the BJP. “What the BJP did in UP was the trial run. They learnt from it and stole all the votes here. I watched the UP poll closely. We complained against so many officers but neither the director general of police nor any of the officers were transferred. But here, all officers were transferred,” he said.
“What political workers are facing here hasn’t happened anywhere. In UP, too, BJP used Central forces and threatened our election agents, drove them out of polling booths and BJP’s vote share reached 77%. They have completely altered the election process,” he added.
In the two-phase Bengal polls, the results for which were declared on May 4, the BJP won a record 207 of the 294 seats while the All India Trinamool Congress secured only 80. Even the outgoing chief minister lost her Bhabanipur seat in Kolkata to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, whose name is being considered as her successor.
Flanked by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and the party’s Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien, Yadav said, “They can’t tolerate Didi because she represents the masses. The BJP leaders are male chauvinists. They cannot tolerate women. They did not let a woman become chief minister of Rajasthan. In another state, they made another woman only a partial chief minister,” Yadav said.
“I hope people of this nation will rise after what has happened in Bengal. It has been heard that officers brought here from other states were promised awards if they succeeded in helping the BJP win,” he added.
Mamata, on May 5, refused to resign as chief minister, saying her party won the polls but the counting process was jointly rigged by the EC, Central paramilitary forces, and the BJP. She alleged that TMC polling agents were assaulted and driven out of counting centres and that she too was kicked and shoved when she entered the counting centre for the Bhabanipur seat.
On Thursday, Yadav dared the EC to release security camera footage from all the counting centres.
“BJP people are scared of CCTV. Let the EC publish the videos from the counting centres. If Supreme Court hearings can be shown live then why can’t CCTV footage of Bengal elections be made public? This will strengthen democracy,” Yadav said.
Reacting to Yadav’s allegations, Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “Mamata Banerjee was defeated by the people of Bengal. This verdict was against her misrule and corruption.”
