Kolkata, April 15 -- The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lodged a formal complaint on Wednesday with the Election Commission, alleging biased conduct and misuse of authority by certain poll officials during the ongoing election process and demanded inter-departmental inquiry and removal of the delinquent officials. The party raised serious concerns over what it described as "targeted harassment" of its leaders and their family members.
According to the complaint, the controversy stems from messages circulated in a WhatsApp group reportedly used by "Police and other observers and CAPF officials". TMC claimed that these messages contained instructions to carry out vehicle checks specifically targeting senior party leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee and his wife, Rujira Banerjee. At a press conference on Tuesday, TMC senior leaders Bratya Basu and Kunal Ghosh presented the forwarded messages to the media. The next day, the party lodged the complaint and argued that such actions were not only
discriminatory but also violated the principles of free and fair elections.
In its submission, TMC stated that the alleged directives appeared to be politically motivated and intended to intimidate opposition leaders. The party further contended that involving family members in such checks crossed ethical boundaries and reflected a misuse of administrative power.
The party has demanded strict action against those responsible and called for safeguards to prevent similar occurrences in the future. As of now, there has been no official response from the Election Commission regarding the allegations.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.