As West Bengal Assembly elections approach, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hatching a conspiracy to cancel the upcoming elections and impose President’s rule in the state.
Addressing an election rally in Sagardighi, Chief Minister Banerjee claimed that the BJP was behind the incident in which seven judicial officers were held hostage by villagers in Malda on Wednesday.
He said, “At present the administration is not under my control. The command of law and order is in the hands of the Election Commission. They work as per the instructions of Home Minister Amit Shah. There has been a reshuffle in the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General, SP, DMS, ADMS, BDOS, IC and many other state officers.”
He further alleged that the BJP was planning to “cancel the elections and take over Bengal by force”.
“You (BJP) have tried to instigate people in many ways. The plan is to cancel the elections. If that happens, no one will have the right to vote. They will take over Bengal by force. The Election Commission has taken away my powers and imposed ‘overlapping President’s rule’ with the help of the Home Minister and the Governor,” Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister of West Bengal claimed that she had no prior information about the Malda incident and she got the information from a journalist. He admitted that the present Chief Secretary has not contacted him even once.
Banerjee further said, “I don’t know who was behind the incident that happened in Malda yesterday. I don’t have any information. The current Chief Minister did not call me even once. I came to know from a journalist that judges are being gheraoed. There is dissatisfaction among the people in Malda, Murshidabad and North Dinajpur. People have become victims of the BJP’s tricks.”
A major political storm has erupted in West Bengal after villagers took hostage seven judicial officers, including three women, in Malda district on Wednesday.
The impasse arose due to large-scale deletion of names from voter lists under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The incident was part of a wave of widespread protests that paralyzed Malda throughout the day, as protesters set up road blockades on national and state highways and major rural routes in at least five assembly constituencies.
Reacting to the case, the Supreme Court today described the Malda incident as an audacious and deliberate attempt to obstruct the administration of justice.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant expressed concern that despite prior information, state authorities failed to immediately provide security, leaving officials without food or water for hours.
The court has issued show cause notices to senior state officials, including the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police, seeking explanation for their inaction. It has directed the Election Commission to requisition and deploy adequate central forces to ensure the security of judicial officers and smooth conduct of the SIR justice process.
The bench mandated tight security arrangements at all locations, banned entry of the general public, ordered an immediate assessment of threat concerns to officials and their families and sought a compliance report. The bench asked senior officials to remain present online in the next hearing.
Voting for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, while the counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.
In the last assembly elections held in eight phases in the state in 2021, Trinamool Congress registered a landslide victory with 213 seats in a tough fight with the BJP, while the BJP got 77 seats. Congress and the Left Front could not win a single seat in the last state elections.
