Election Commission censures TMC leader for remark

Accusing the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress government in West Bengal of using “crime and terror” and deploying “corrupt and criminal practises” in the state where Assembly elections are going on, the BJP on Tuesday asked the Election Commission (EC) to ensure free and fair polls in the coming phases in the state. The EC, meanwhile, decided to “censure” TMC leader Anubrata Mondal for making certain utterances against a woman BJP candidate and asked him to be careful in future. The EC asked the chief electoral officer of West Bengal to “censure” Mr Mondal, president of the TMC’s Birbhum district, for violating provisions of the model code of conduct as it found his reply to a showcause notice “unsatisfactory”. While addressing a public meeting at Mayureswar Assembly constituency, Mr Mondal had reportedly made certain utterances against BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee, by describing her as “dolchut mal (broadly translated as a party deserter)”.

A BJP delegation met top EC officials and submitted a memorandum in which it said most of the observers are “neither visible nor available and are completely incommunicado”. “Several requests made to the commission in our earlier meeting have still not been addressed and we request that it be done now and the BJP be apprised of the action taken... We request the EC to ensure that the CEO fully conforms to fair practices,” said the memorandum.