The wife of Kajal Sinha, deceased Trinamul candidate from Khardah, has lodged a police complaint against the Election Commission and its Bengal-in-charge Sudeep Jain, holding them responsible for her husband’s death from Covid.
Nandita Sinha’s complaint comes two days after Madras High Court castigated the commission for allowing campaign rallies, held it “singularly” responsible for India’s Covid resurgence, called it the “the most irresponsible institution” and said its officials might be booked for murder.
Nandita’s complaint, dated April 27 but registered on Wednesday, urges the officer-in-charge of Khardah police and the Barrackpore police commissioner to take immediate steps against Jain, a deputy election commissioner, and other commission officials responsible for “acts/omissions” that led to 59-year-old Kajal’s death on Sunday morning.
“I… am writing to you today with a bleeding heart and unparalleled pain, to inform you about the negligent actions/ inactions on the part of the Election Commission of India… which has led to my husband’s untimely demise,” says the complaint, lodged under penal code sections 269, 270, 304 (Part II) and 120B.
Sections 269 and 270 deal with negligent and malignant acts, respectively, that are likely to spread life-threatening infections; Section 304 with culpable homicide not amounting to murder; and 120B with criminal conspiracy.
Jain, 51, had been in charge of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Bengal too. When he was appointed Bengal-in-charge again for this election, Trinamul had formally sought his removal, accusing the 1994-batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre of a pro-BJP bias.
But the commission had defended Jain, endorsing the 2019 decisions attributed to him by Trinamul.
“He (Kajal) contracted the coronavirus on April 20, 2021, and succumbed to it on April 25, 2021, while being compelled to carry out his public duties and election campaign as a candidate due to the self-serving blind motives of the ECI,” Nandita’s complaint says.
On Monday, the bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy of Madras High Court had asked commission officials if they were “(living) on another planet”.
The high court’s observations were hailed widely by the medial fraternity and ordinary citizens on social media but came under attack from the Bengal BJP, which aggressively defended the commission, alleged a “conspiracy” and accused the bench of echoing Trinamul.
The BJP claimed the high court’s observations had “tainted” India’s judiciary and demanded an investigation.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has steadfastly questioned the commission’s motives, accusing it of colluding with the BJP and functioning at Union home minister Amit Shah’s behest.
She has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the poll panel and Shah of allowing the second wave of Covid to reach devastating proportions in their desperation to win the Bengal election.
Nandita’s complaint mentions the death of three other Bengal candidates from Covid and censures the commission for “malignantly” continuing with the unprecedented eight-phase polls in the state amid a surging pandemic, causing widespread deaths.
The commission had refused to budge in the face of Trinamul requests to club the final three phases.
Nandita noted that the commission had the widest possible powers over elections, including the authority to pass directions wherever any unforeseen situation emerged during any polls.
“However, the ECI has deliberately ignored to act and completely disregarded its obligations to public health and safety,” she wrote.
Shortly after the complaint became public on Wednesday, Trinamul accused the commission, BJP and the central government of having the “blood of Covid-19 patients on their hands”.
Trinamul vice-president Saugata Roy said Modi and Shah had together addressed at least 50 rallies in Bengal in April alone despite the skyrocketing Covid infections.
“With the commission refusing to club the final three phases, over 1.4 crore people can be expected to be exposed to the virus in the last two phases (Monday and Thursday) alone,” the Dum Dum MP said.
The BJP defended the commission again and described Nandita’s complaint as a “gimmick”.
“A lot of people have died, in Bengal and elsewhere… not Kajal Sinha alone,” said Barrackpore MP and Trinamul turncoat Arjun Singh of the BJP.
“The Election Commission does not have the infrastructure to carry out this or that order by the courts. This is a political gimmick, nothing else.”