Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday made a strong pitch for electoral reforms to curb the role of black money in elections.
The Chief Minister, who was making her first speech in the State Assembly after the Trinamool Congress roared back to power with a thumping majority said, "There is a lot of hullabaloo over the role of black money in elections. The simplest way to minimise the role of black money is to let the Election Commission do the poll funding. let the Central Election Commission fund the General and State polls and the State Commissions fund the civic and panchayat polls."
Making a strong pitch for early electoral reforms Mamata said "once the electoral funding is done by the Commission then we will not have to cry hoarse against use of black money."
The Chief Minister who had repeatedly attacked the ECI for its strong handling of polls also tended to make a circuitous remark on what she said was unleashing a "curfew-like" situation in the name of free and fair elections.
"Election is a festival of democracy where there is no need to unleash a curfew-like situation," Mamata said. Incidentally one of her closest IPS officers Bharati Ghosh had filed a law suit in Calcutta High Court asking the Commission why she was transferred out from her post as an Officer on Special Duty handling left Wing Extremism- with no direct role to play in the poll process.
The case is slotted to be heard on June 7. Sources in the Government said a whole lot of senior bureaucrats were planning to file similar suits depending upon the fate of Ghosh's case.
Meanwhile, harping on the alleged "Statewide curfew unleashed by the Trinamool Congress" the left parties launched a scathing attack on the Chief Minister and demanded immediate stopping of attacks on the Opposition voters.
"We met her in the Assembly to congratulate her on her win but at the same time we reminded her about the duties of the Government to maintain peace which is not happening in the State. The Opposition workers and their relatives are under severe attack from the Trinamool Congress and the police is not taking any action," said Sujan Chakrabarty CPI(M) MlA.
"We told her how thousands of our workers are fleeing from one place to another in the fear of being hounded out and persecuted by the Trinamool goons just because they had worked in the elections. Similarly there are numerous families that have either left their houses or are being forced to pay huge amount as fines. This cannot go on for too long. The CM asked as to contact the Parliamentary Affairs Ministers. let us see what action she takes and then we will decide on our future course of action."