KOLKATA: The bonhomie between West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which was observed shortly after the former entered Raj Bhavan and assumed office in November last year, seems to be petering out. The face-off between them reached its peak on Thursday over the issue of the role played by the State Election Commission (SEC) and its chief ahead of the panchayat elections in Bengal.
Bose, late on Wednesday night, returned state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha’s joining report casting a shadow on the continuation of the state poll panel head.
A war of words between the two erupted when Bose, refusing to accept state election commissioner’s joining report, expressed his “disappointment” amid murmurs of removal of the state election commissioner and Mamata said the state poll panel head can’t be removed on whims and fancies.
Asserting that Sinha’s removal is a “cumbersome process”, Mamata said, “State Election Commissioner cannot be removed just like that. He was appointed after the governor approved it. He cannot be removed just at the drop of hat. The removal process is quite cumbersome, just like removing judges through impeachment,” before leaving for Patna to attend a meeting of opposition parties.
“Never ever has the poll process in Bengal been so peaceful. It's cadres of our party who have been killed. There have been incidents in three to four booths and armed with that, some people are maligning Bengal,” she alleged.
Bose said that he had appointed Sinha as the SEC head trusting that he would conduct the election process in a free and fair manner. He added that during the elections the Commissioner has power over the police and magistrates. “The Election Commission should not only be impartial but should also be perceived to be impartial. Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”, he added.
ALSO READ | HC orders Bengal poll panel to deploy 82K personnel from central forces for rural elections
Lambasting the state poll panel, Bose on Thursday blamed it for the violence during the panchayat polls in the state, saying it was accountable for every drop of human blood that is shed in the field.
“People are disappointed by the apparent inaction from the Election Commission. People are in a state of fear. Of course I will not say there is violence all over. But there is violence and the fact that there is violence cannot be denied,” the Governor said.
After a series of run-ins between his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Mamata, the equation between Raj Bhavan and the West Bengal government turned a new leaf as Bose praised Mamata and shared cordial ties with her.
Praising her after she received her second doctorate of literature (DLitt) from St. Xavier’s University in Kolkata in February, Bose had said, “This is not for her political acumen. For that she has received similar awards from the people’s university. This is a recognition for her pursuit of excellence in literature, in painting, in poetry.”
Acting on the Calcutta High Court’s order, the SEC requisitioned 800 companies of central forces on Thursday, shifting from its requisition for 22 companies. The state poll panel received a jolt in the Supreme Court when it challenged the Calcutta High Court’s order directing the state panel to deploy central forces across the state.
