West Bengal polls: EC-TMC meeting turns into bitter war of words

NEW DELHI: A meeting between TMC and Election Commission on Wednesday expectedly ended in acrimony, lasting barely 7-8 minutes and sparking a bitter war of words. EC sources accused party MP Derek O' Brien of "shouting at EC functionaries and not allowing chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to speak", while TMC slammed the CEC for reportedly asking the party delegation to "get lost".

The meeting took place against the backdrop of deletion of lakhs of voters in West Bengal and the rejection of the notice for removal of the CEC by Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman. Sources said Kumar had to request O' Brien to maintain decorum of the commission room by saying that "shouting and indecent behaviour is not appropriate". After the RS MP was done raising the points on behalf of his party and just as the CEC started to respond with "straight-talk" that the West Bengal polls will be "fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, inducement-free and without any chhaapa, booth jamming or source jamming", O' Brien interrupted him, saying he had come to speak and not listen, according to the sources.

The "ECI's Straight-talk to Trinamool Congress" was posted on the commission's X handle soon after the meeting.Refuting EC's version, TMC challenged it to release the transcript of the meeting. "Is this how a neutral constitutional body is expected to behave? We are also speaking straight to EC in a straightforward manner. This time, elections must be: free from Delhi's control, free from political bias, free from targeted persecution of anyone and certainly free from double standards," TMC said in a post on X.

The parting shots at the end of the meeting from both sides were bitter - CEC, according to TMC, asked the delegation , comprising MPs O'Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale and Menaka Guruswamy, to "get lost" and O'Brien, according to EC sources, told the CEC that "I hope you will sleep soundly tonight". EC officials told TOI that the meeting started with TMC presenting a memorandum to raise the issue of alleged disenfranchisement of voters during the SIR process.

As is the usual practice, the party first fielded its functionary - O'Brien - to talk. He started speaking "in a raised voice and a combative tone", according to EC sources. Later, addressing a press conference, O'Brien accused EC of not responding to multiple letters written by party chief Mamata Banerjee, as he raised objection to the "motivated" transfers of senior Bengal officers in the run-up to the polls and appointment of "tainted officers". When these objections were raised at the meeting, the CEC's answer was, "get lost", he said. "We were told this within seven minutes of the meeting," O'Brien said.