In an all-out attack on the Election Commission (EC) and the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections next month, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday alleged a “deliberate design to seize control” of the State “through coercion and institutional manipulation”.
“What we are witnessing is nothing short of an undeclared Emergency and an unpromulgated form of President’s Rule driven by political vendetta, not democratic principles,” Banerjee said in a post on social media, adding that “Bengal will fight, Bengal will resist and Bengal will decisively defeat every attempt to impose a divisive and destructive agenda on its soil”.
Accusing the EC of “singling out and targeting” the State, Banerjee said over 50 senior officials have been “summarily and arbitrarily removed”, pointing to “political interference of the highest order”.
Within 24 hours of announcing the schedule for the Assembly polls, the EC ordered several transfers, including of the chief secretary, director general of police, home secretary and Kolkata police commissioner.
Calling it “unprecedented” and “deeply alarming”, Banerjee said: “This is not incidental, it points to a deliberate design to seize control of West Bengal through coercion and institutional manipulation.”
Also targeting the BJP, she said: “Having failed to win the trust of Bengal’s people, the BJP is now attempting to capture the State through coercion, intimidation, manipulation and the misuse of institutions.”
“The systematic politicisation of institutions meant to remain impartial is a direct assault on the Constitution. At a time when a deeply flawed SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process is underway and over 200 lives have already been lost, the conduct of the Commission reflects a clear bias and an uncomfortable submission to political interests, continuing to put the people of Bengal at risk,” she said.
The voters’ list after the contentious SIR in the State has seen over 63 lakh deletions and over 60 lakh voters being placed “under adjudication”.
Saying that supplementary electoral rolls have not been published yet, Banerjee said: “Meanwhile, senior officers from critical agencies like IB, STF and CID are being selectively removed and dispatched out of the state, pointing to a calculated attempt to cripple Bengal’s administrative machinery.”
“Why is the BJP so desperate? Why this relentless targeting of Bengal and its people? What satisfaction do they derive from forcing citizens, even after 78 years of Independence, to stand in queues and prove their own citizenship,” Banerjee said in her post.
“Even before the formal notification of elections, more than 50 senior officials including the chief secretary, home secretary, DGP, ADGs, IGs, DIGs, district magistrates and superintendents of police have been summarily and arbitrarily removed. This is not administrative action, rather this is political interference of the highest order,” she said.
“The contradictions in the Commission’s actions expose its complete collapse of credibility. It claims that removed officers should not be assigned election duties, yet within hours, the same officers are sent out as election observers. The appointment of the Commissioners of Police of Siliguri and Bidhannagar as observers, without even putting replacements in place, left two vital urban centres effectively headless. It was only after this glaring lapse came to light that rushed corrections followed. This is not governance. It reflects chaos, confusion and sheer incompetence being passed off as authority,” she said.
Expressing solidarity with “every officer of the Government of West Bengal and their families, who are being targeted simply for serving the State with honesty and commitment”, Banerjee said that “Bengal has never bowed to intimidation and it never will”.
Banerjee also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar again, expressing “deep shock” over the functioning of the poll panel. In a strongly worded letter, she alleged that the EC had “crossed all boundaries of decency and constitutional propriety”.
Banerjee accused the EC of acting with “apparent bias” since the commencement of the SIR process, “showing little regard for ground realities or the well-being of the people”.
On the recent transfers, she wrote: “These large-scale transfers have been effected immediately following the announcement of elections, without any cogent reasons and in the absence of any allegation of violation of electoral rules or the Model Code of Conduct”.
She said the transfer of district election officers during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls appeared to be “driven by a clear mala fide intent”, raising concerns about the disposal of pending cases.
Questioning the deployment of state police officers as observers in other poll-bound states, Banerjee termed the move “arbitrary” and “a misuse of authority”, alleging it reflected “serious overreach” by the Commission.
“Senior officers function as both strategic planners and key decision-makers. In our state, they are directly involved in effective coordination and handling of sensitive matters… The months of March and April are particularly prone to severe storms which often cause significant damage to life and property. Post-disaster rescue and restoration operations are carried out under the leadership of senior officers who possess intimate knowledge of the terrain and local vulnerabilities. Their sudden removal at this juncture could severely hamper emergency response efforts,” she wrote.
“Officers brought in from outside, lacking familiarity with local terrain conditions and geography of area, language and socio-cultural sensitivities, may not be able to respond effectively. Therefore, any failure in maintaining law and order or in administrative management, arising from these decisions would rest solely with the ECI. I am, therefore, constrained to conclude that these actions reflect a deliberate attempt to take cover under Article 324 while creating conditions that could push the State of West Bengal towards administrative instability and disorder. Such biased, hasty and unilateral decisions are unprecedented and do not augur well for a healthy democracy,” she wrote.
On March 16, too, Banerjee had written to the CEC, protesting against the “sweeping transfers”. She had also asked him to “refrain from adopting such unilateral measures in the future”.
On Wednesday, the EC ordered more transfers — 13 district magistrates or district electoral officers and five deputy inspectors general of police across the State.