Mukul accuses SEC of being partial to CPM

The ruling Trinamool Congress today accused State Election Commissioner Meera Pandey of working at the behest of the CPM to safeguard the interests of the Marxists.

The accusation was made by Mukul Roy, Trinamool general secretary, who also expressed hope that good sense would prevail upon Pandey so that panchayat elections could be held peacefully and without any hassles.

"We have a feeling that the present election commissioner who was appointed for the post in 2010, during the Left regime, wanted to please the people who gave her the appointment. She does not want to see the defeat of the CPM in the panchayat elections and wants to defer the defeat. That is why she is creating all these problems," Mukul said at Trinamool Bhavan, the party headquarters.

While the state government wanted the elections in two phases — on April 24 and April 27 — and deployment of state police, the SEC wants it in three phases — on April 28, May 2 and May 6. It also wants deployment of 800 companies of paramilitary forces for maintenance of law and order during the elections.

Mukul said the state government wanted the elections to be held in February but the commission stood in the way. "It's an enigma why they did not want the elections in February. What was their problem? It is the state government that fixes the dates of the elections. The commission should remain within its domain," he said.

He also accused commission officials of hobnobbing with CPM leaders. "The commission secretary (Tapas Roy) had been seen with CPM leaders like Rabin Deb and Sujan Chakraborty. They also entertained requests from CPM leaders which were not legal. This is very unfortunate. We want the elections to be held in time and in accordance with law," Mukul added.

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