KOLKATA: Amid the violence in West Bengal ahead of the panchayat elections on July 8, Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday lambasted State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha, saying, “All the waters in the holy Ganges cannot wash away the blood on your hands.”
Holding Sinha responsible for the deaths in the pre-poll violence after the date for the rural elections was announced on June 9, the constitutional head of the state said, “I appointed you but you disappointed the people. My constitutional appointee, you have failed in your duty. You have failed he people. You are responsible for the corpses that fell on the streets.”
Hitting back at Bose, the second-in-command in the ruling Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee accused the Governor of trying to secure dividends for a political party in the upcoming panchayat polls and acting on instructions from Delhi.
On the last day for campaigning for the upcoming rural polls on Thursday, the body of a BJP candidate was found in Mohammadbazar in Birbhum. Police are yet to ascertain whether it was a case of murder or suicide.
Referring to the Mahabharata, Bose said, “There is something called Rajdharma, that is what your Rajyapal (governor) is supposed to do. In the Mahabharata war, Yudhisthira’s chariot was always three inches above ground. His single misinformation about Ashwathama’s death, conveyed to one who trusted in him, brought that chariot on the ground thenceforth. Mr. SEC, don’t you learn a lesson from this?”
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The Bengal governor first swung into action on the last day of nominations on June 15 by visiting Bhangar in South 24 Parganas after three persons were killed in the violence between the ruling TMC and the opposition. Speaking there, Bose had said, “Winning the election depends on count of votes, not dead bodies.”
A total of 15 persons have died in poll violence since June 9 and the Governor met families of the victims both in north and south Bengal.
Describing Bengal’s present scenario before the panchayat elections as a battlefield, Bose said, “I went to the field—the battlefield—where innocence is butchered. Where the massacre of the unborn has taken place. People tell me what to do, what not to do. They still reply on you Mr. SEC. Don’t let them down. Own them up. Syill there is time……only a phone call from you will save lives.”
Criticising the state administration’s machinery, Bose said, “You (Sinha) have the IAS, IPS officials under you. Do you know what people say about them—some of them—not all of them—they say the All India Service officials are in effect abetting crime, and murder with their conspiracy of silence….can’t you change the errant officers. Shift them for the time being and enquire into the allegations against them.”
Raising a question on the Governor’s ‘proactive’ act, Abhishek asked how many times Bose visited the families of more than 80 victims of the Balasore rail accident. Referring to Bose’s comment on the SEC, Abhishek said, “The state poll panel is competent enough to reply. But how many times did the Governor visit the families of railway accident victims in Balasore? He is talking about bloodshed in Bengal. Whose hand is soaked in blood in Manipur? He is trying to secure dividend for a political party in the panchayat elections. He is acting on orders from Delhi,” he said.