ECI overstepping into state administration: Abhishek
The Statesman | 8 August 2025
Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamul Congress national general secretary came down heavily on the Election Commission of India and said it is overstepping into the state administration flouting the Constitutional provisions given to it.
Talking to newsmen at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport after landing in the city from Delhi, he said the ECI takes over the administration of any state after the implementation of the model code of conduct.
“It is most unfortunate that ECI is working to help the BJP by going beyond its jurisdiction. The Assembly election in Bengal is eight to ten months away and the ECI has no authority to intervene in the state administration. It is working as an agent of the BJP and is trying to satisfy its boss. We have been seeing this over and over again. In 2021 Assembly election and in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the ECI had worked to help the BJP in Bengal. In both the elections the BJP was handsomely defeated. BJP has not taken any lesson from its defeat. It will have the same fate in 2026 Assembly election,” he said, adding, “We expect neutrality from the ECI whereas in reality it is functioning as a party office.”
Criticising the BJP, he said, “The saffron party has destroyed the sanctity of different organisations. We have respect for the courts but even some judges of high court give orders in favour of the BJP. See, in recent times how many CBI inquiries have been ordered. In the RG Kar case, the CBI inquiry was ordered and it could not add anything above the findings of the city police,” he remarked.
Asked to comment on the hike of tariff by the US government, he said, “Why ask me? Neither me nor any of the Trinamul Congress leaders went to Texas to campaign for Donald Trump. Mamata Banerjee did not invite him to visit Bengal. He had invited Trump to visit Gujarat shortly before the Covid outbreak. Ask him to get the answers. It is the failure of our diplomacy,” he said.
Further tearing into PM Modi’s failure to read Trump 2.0, Abhishek said: “Someone who campaigned for Donald Trump will be in an ideal position and situation, and far more apprised, and will be able to answer with clarity what made Mr Donald Trump and the US government to impose a 50 per cent tariff on India. The onus is on him (PM Modi) and the incumbent NDA and BJP government, not Trinamul Congress.
Raising a very pertinent question, Abhishek asked, “Those who want to weaken India and create pressure, how did they suddenly become so powerful? The government that used to boast about its “56-inch chest’, despite being in power, has been snubbed by China, the US, and many other countries.”
He said as a result of the tariff hike IT, garment and pharmaceutical industries would be affected. “This is an example of how Vishwaguru has been badly hit. After the Pulwama incident, I was part of the Indian delegation and visited five countries, but not a single country had criticised Pakistan. We should understand the ground reality and not make statements in air,” he said.