The Trinamul Congress today brought out reported evidence against Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, Deputy ECI Gyanesh Bharti and Special Observer Subrata Gupta.
TMC candidate from Beleghata Kunal Ghosh, who is also the party spokesperson said at a Press conference that “it has come to light and we want to expose how Manoj Agarwal, CEO, on instructions of Delhi is trying his level best to influence votes in Bengal in favour of BJP so that BJP’s tally somehow manages to cross 50”.
As per established norms, the Chief Electoral Officer is not expected to hold physical or virtual meetings with Central Observers, in order to maintain their independence and impartiality, he said.
However, in Bengal, it has been observed that the CEO, Subrata Gupta, has conducted around 10-12 meetings with Central Observers, both physically and virtually. During these interactions, there are concerns that undue pressure is being exerted on the observers, and attempts are being made to influence or provoke them to act against TMC, said Mr Ghosh.
It has also been conveyed in some instances that observers are being encouraged to assume complete control of districts, even to the extent of acting as DM & SP which goes beyond their defined mandate. Few days ago a senior officer of UP cadre Anurag Yadav (General Observer in Cooch Behar) had a sharp disagreement with the CEC on a related issue.
“Similarly, yesterday, another incident occurred involving a 2004 batch officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre (C. Paulrasu – Gen observer) who is a former CEO of Himachal. He clearly stated in the observers’ group that the CEO has no authority to convene meetings with or direct the observers, as they are appointed by the ECI and are accountable only to it,” said the TMC candidate.
This issue led to considerable discussion and tension within the group and the CEO deleted his posts and removed him from the group.
The Trinamul Congress pointed out that several observers have raised consistent concern that they are not being allowed to function freely, and that various forms of pressure are being exerted on them on a regular basis by the CEO, Subrata Gupta and Gyanesh Bharti.