TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee wants criminal case against Adhikari for BLO suicides

Political mud-slinging intensified over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls even as Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on Sunday demanded that criminal prosecution should be initiated against Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari for publicly threatening the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in SIR, forcing them to commit suicide.

Launching a scathing attack against Adhikari for pushing the BLOs to the brink, he said, “none but the Election Commission of India and Suvendu Adhikari are responsible for the BLOs who are committing suicide. Criminal proceedings should be initiated against Adhikari because of his threats issued to the BLOs.”

His point of reference were two successive suicides committed by two BLOs in a matter of a week — one in Jalpaiguri district in North Bengal and the other in Nadia district in South Bengal — both allegedly because of “intensive work pressure” that they were unable to cope up with.

He slammed Adhikari for repeatedly threatening the BLOs for the incorrect submission of enumeration forms. Adhikari had earlier warned the BLOs, saying, “There are many BLOs in Bihar who have either been jailed or FIRs have been lodged against them for allowing false entries in the enumeration forms in Bengal too, the BLOs are being cautioned against any such connivance with the sinful TMC Government.”

Curiously, Banerjee tended to ignore a statement from TMC leader and Bengal minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury, who on Sunday warned the BLOs of dire consequences if a single name was deleted from the electoral rolls.

Chowdhury, who is also the State president of Jamiat Ulema e Hind, said during a conference where workers from his social group assembled from a number of districts, including East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, said, “we are keeping a close watch on the proceedings we will not let the BLOs sleep if a single name is deleted from the electoral rolls.” Another TMC leader and MLA from South 24 Parganas said that the local BLOs and the BJP workers would be tied to the trees if names were deleted from the electoral rolls.

The TMC leadership’s statements invited immediate response from the State BJP with Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar, who said that all the “bonafide citizens” had welcomed the SIR and only those who were “unauthorized voters” were afraid about the initiation of the process.

Majumdar, who led a Parivartan Yatra (Rally for Change) in West Midnapore, said that the “people of Bengal had made up their mind to throw out the Mamata Banerjee Government,” which was why they were so much afraid.

“They (TMC) knows that with a clean voters’ list they will not be able to remain in power this is the reason that the bonafide citizens have welcomed the SIR whereas the TMC ministers are opposition it they know that thousands of unauthorized voters who have infiltrated India will be purged after SIR and then they will have no fake voters to fall back on this is the reason that they are getting afraid and attacking the BJP,” Majumdar a former State BJP president said.

Criticising Kalyan Banerjee for making “such irresponsible statements,” BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said “he (Banerjee) is attacking the BJP and Suvendu Adhikari.

While BJP is not Election Commission of India why does he not go to the Commission to seek a remedy or the Supreme Court seeking better ways to implement SIR these are not threats but shrieks coming out the TMC leaders’ mouths because they are afraid of the imminent defeat, they know that Mamata Banerjee is in power for just a few months where after they will have to sweep the streets.”