Less than 48 hours ahead of the scheduled panchayat elections in the state, Governor CV Ananda Bose published his “report card” on the Bengal State Election Commission chief Rajiva Sinha and judged the former bureaucrat an “utter failure” in reigning in the continuing political violence in the state.
“Mr SEC, Bengal expects you to do your duty. Have you done your duty? Do you know what is your duty? Will you do your duty? You have to dip in the holy waters for salvation. But you have no holy waters to dip into. You are knee deep in sin against the people. Your masters sin against the Constitution, sin against the judicial courts. This is the opinion of the people, assessment of your masters, the people. I appointed you, but you disappointed the people. My Constitutional appointee, you have failed, in my opinion, in your duty,” Ananda Bose lashed out at the SEC on Thursday.
The Governor drew liberally references from The Mahabharata and even one from William Shakespeare to drive home his exasperation and his stinging attack on the state election commissioner.
“If democracy is dead during these panchayat elections, who is the killer? Will the state election commissioner please raise his hand? You should know who the killers are. You are the custodian of the lives of people during an election. You are the repository of all powers to ensure free and fair elections. You are armed with all authority to hold peaceful elections. The police are under you, the magistrates are under you, the state machinery is under you during the elections. So why this gruesome violence, repeated violence, spiraling violence, murders most foul? The forces of darkness are on the prowl. Satan has risen from hell again. He is strutting and fretting on the streets of Canning, Bhangar, Basanti, Cooch Behar, Murshidabad and where not,” said Bose.
“Mr SEC, looking at the murders happening on the field, Shakespeare would say: “Hell is empty. All the devils are here,” he stated.
Reminding the commissioner of his “Raj Dharma” for which he felt that “time has not yet run out”, Bose referred to the epic battle of Kurukshetra where Dronacharya fell for Yudhistira’s manipulation and gave up his weapon thinking Aswaththama has perished. “One wrong information cost the Kauravas the battle. The commissioner should keep that in mind,” he said and added: “You should not act like Kangsha in the guise of Krishna”
Bose had set a 48-hour deadline on Monday for the commission to take concrete steps to stop poll-related violence in the step based on which he had pledged to publish his “report card” before the people of the state. That ultimatum followed Bose’s visit to various violence-torn pockets of the state over the previous two weeks. “This political Holi with human blood has to end,” Bose had stated. Thursday’s “report card” was published even as two more deaths, suspected to have been related to the upcoming panchayat polls, were reported from different corners of the state taking the toll to 17 since the elections were announced on June 8. Dozens of others have been injured in political clashes during the same period.
“There is a reason for you to go and visit the ground. Go to ground zero. Be a ground-zero election commissioner. Know the realities. You have no time to come and meet this messenger of the people, your humble rajyapal,” the Governor said in reference to Sinha skipping his meeting with the governor despite being summoned to the Raj Bhavan earlier this week.
The Governor’s outburst elicited sharp reactions from the state’s political fraternity. "I would request the Central government that it is need of the hour that we should take cognizance of the 'intellect' that Governor of West Bengal has and immediately send him to Manipur or states like Madhya Pradesh. A man of such intellect and wisdom, a man of such sheer understanding of democratic values and the Constitution is needed more at this time in the double-engine government-ruled Manipur and not in Bengal," TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took a jibe at Bose.
Accusing Bose of acting like a “BJP agent”, the Trinamul questioned why he held a press conference to "influence the people ahead of the polls” instead of complaining against the SEC before the President. “He is making a mockery of his position. After May 11 (when panchayat results are declared), he won’t be able to come out in shame,” Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson said.
“The Governor is the Constitutional authority of the state and has every right to judge the election commissioner and advise him. He has the right to feel the way he feels and there’s no reason why the Trinamul should get so worked up with it. This exposes the party’s nexus with what is supposed to be an independent authority in the state,” said lawyer and CPI-M leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
“There is no climate to hold free and fair elections in this state. This commissioner has been placed to ensure that unrest persists so that the TMC wins the elections without opposition,” BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said while extending his support for the Governor’s words.
