In a huge blow to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, the Election Commission of India has ruled out the possibility of an “attack” which left the Chief Minister injured in Nandigram. The ECI has stated that the incident was more likely an accident and not an attack, as claimed by the TMC.
The ECI seems to have deflated the campaign of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC to generate a sympathy wave for the West Bengal Chief Minister, as the body stated that the incident was more likely an accident and not an attack. The ECI has also suspended Vivek Sahay, IPS, Director of Security and Pravin Prakash, Purba Medinipur’s Superintendent of Police, both of whom were tasked with handling the protection detail of the CM.
However, the TMC disagreed with the ECI’s observation of how there was no pre-meditated attack on Mamata and instead sought a high-level probe into the incident, as the party insisted that the inquiry by election observers lacks credibility.
Earlier, the Election Commission had sought a detailed report from West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, special observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dubey by Friday evening. The Bengal government’s report, however, was found to be inadequate and ‘sketchy’ by the commission. A senior official said, “The report from West Bengal, which the Commission has got, appeared quite sketchy and without any details of the incident like how it happened or who could be behind it. We have asked the state administration to furnish more details.”
In the report, the state government referred to the presence of a huge crowd at the spot but did not mention the “4-5 people”, who Banerjee alleged had attacked her, officials were quoted saying by the Tribune. As such, the ECI seems too interested to know why there has been no mention of the group of men who had ‘attacked’ Mamata Banerjee. If that was not the case, the ECI would also like to know why the Chief Minister herself, and her coterie, went all over the town claiming the same.
According to the Hindustan Times, the second report, prepared by the police and sent to the ECI by the state’s chief secretary also has details regarding Banerjee’s itinerary on that day, the places she visited and the number of security personnel deployed for her security.
It seems that the ECI has finally got to the bottom of the Nandigram incident and has punctured the claims of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee, in their quest to uncover the truth.