A delegation of the Left Front Committee, West Bengal led by Com. Biman Basu and accompanied by CPI(M) leader in Parliament, Com. Sitaram Yechury met the Election Commission of India today and submitted a memorandum on the issue of conducting free and fair Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. At a press conference in Delhi, following the meeting, Com. Biman Basu said that the democratic atmosphere in West Bengal has been highly vitiated by TMC’s hooliganism. Since the last elections, 147 Left-front members and supporters have been killed. Ironically, the perpetrators of violence are being let loose whereas the victims are being booked in various cases. He said that TMC was violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in several ways including duplicate entries by their ministers, murder and rape threats to the public and violent threats to the election officials. Adding that the BJP might “marginally benefit” in the coming elections, he says it’s the undemocratic atmosphere created by TMC rule which is responsible for this.
Com. Sitaram Yechury said he’s deeply concerned about people’s ability to exercise franchise without intimidation, especially in the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bardhaman, Bankura and Nadia where the police is working hand-in-glove with the ruling party. He cited an incident where a woman was presented with a white sari by TMC goons, suggesting that she would be made a widow if her husband did not comply and cast his vote in their favour. Com. Yechury said they’ve given the EC a coloured map of Bengal pointing out areas where people are being threatened. They also put forth their demands to the EC which include make voting arrangements for displaced people, transfer of SPs of the aforementioned districts and an unbiased imposition of MCC among others. He argued that if fear-psychosis is removed from the minds of the people of West Bengal and peaceful elections are held, there’s no reason why the Left would not perform well. He said that the EC has given assurances that they will take necessary measures to ensure free and fair elections in West Bengal.
For full text of the memorandum submitted to the Election Commission click here.