‘No one told me,’ says Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee after SC rap on SIR officers being held hostage in Malda
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘No one told me,’ says Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee after SC rap on SIR officers being held hostage in Malda")
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Election Commission totally failed to control law and order, Photograph: (AFP)
The hostage situation continued for nine hours till a contingent of police and paramilitary personnel reached at around 1 am on Thursday and moved the judicial officers to a safe location. Reports said there were attempts to attack vehicles evacuating the officers.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday she did not know that seven judicial officers involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise had been held hostage overnight in Malda district, and complained she no longer felt in control of the state machinery after the Election Commission enforced top-level changes in the administration ahead of this month's Assembly poll. Banerjee was reacting to a sharp reprimand from the Supreme Court after seven officials, including three women, had been detained by a mob of voters whose names have been deleted from the electoral roll ahead of this month’s Assembly election.
‘Brazen attempt to browbeat judicial officers, challenge authority of this court’
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the incident posed a “calculated and motivated” challenge to the authority of the country’s top judicial forum and that a federal agency, either the CBI or anti-terror body National Investigation Agency, should lead a probe.
“This incident is a brazen attempt not only to browbeat judicial officers but also challenge the authority of this court... appears to be a calculated, motivated move to demoralise judicial officers and stop adjudication of objections...” the court raged.
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Reacting to the reprimand, Mamata said on Thursday, “I don’t know who is responsible… no one informed me.”
“The administration is not in my hand. The Election Commission is controlling law and order (in the state) … they listen to Home Minister Amit Shah. Everyone has been changed… my powers have been transferred to the EC. It is ‘super President’s rule’,” she alleged.
‘All my powers have been taken away’
The Election Commission totally failed to control law and order, she said, “All my powers have been taken away.”
“I came to know (about the hostages) from a journalist at midnight,” the Chief Minister said at a poll rally in Murshidabad district. “But I understand why people are angry,” she added, referring to the resentment in public over the SIR exercise.
Judicial officers are racing against time to complete the SIR before voting starts April 23.
In Malda, a huge protest broke Wednesday after the names of several people were struck off the list. A large mob gathered, and the situation escalated with the officers being taken hostage.
The hostage situation continued for nine hours till a contingent of police and paramilitary personnel intervened at around 1 am on Thursday and moved them to a safe location.
Reports said there were attempts to attack vehicles evacuating the officers; visuals showed one car with a shattered window and angry protesters throwing stones at other vehicles.
BJP accuses TMC of instigating mob
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the Trinamool Congress of instigating the mob, which resulted in the gherao of the judicial officers.
“The TMC is afraid of losing the elections following the deletion of names of bogus voters and has mobilised jihadi elements in the district and orchestrated this unconstitutional, illegal agitation, keeping judicial officers and magistrates, including women, confined in the extreme heat and humid conditions for hours,” BJP state spokesperson Debit Sarkar was quoted as saying.
The Trinamool Congress rejected the BJP’s accusations and instead blamed the Election Commission of India for failing to ensure the safety of its officers.
West Bengal is set to head to the polls in a two-phase election on April 23 and 29 and the results will be announced on May 4.
