SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that no amount of effort by the Election Commission to gerrymander will change the results, and that Mamata Banerjee will win a thumping majority in West Bengal.
Reacting to a post on X by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in which she stated that the manner in which the Election Commission has singled out and targeted Bengal is not only unprecedented but also deeply alarming, Omar said in his own post on X, “These sweeping transfers only happen in non-BJP-ruled states, especially in West Bengal, but that’s no surprise.”
“However, West Bengal will once again prove what I have always believed to be true, officers don’t win elections for political parties; the leaders of political parties do,” he said.
“No amount of effort by the Election Commission to gerrymander will change the results. Come counting day, Mamata Didi will win a thumping majority,” Omar further added.
Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) are part of the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc.
West Bengal is going to polls in two phases, on April 23 and April 29, and the counting of votes will take place on May 4.
In a lengthy post on X, the West Bengal Chief Minister alleged that even before the formal notification of elections, more than 50 senior officials, including the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DGP, ADGs, IGs, DIGs, District Magistrates, and Superintendents of Police, had been summarily and arbitrarily removed. “This is not administrative action; rather, this is political interference of the highest order,” she said.
“The systematic politicisation of institutions meant to remain impartial is a direct assault on the Constitution. At a time when a deeply flawed SIR process is underway and over 200 lives have already been lost, the conduct of the Commission reflects a clear bias and an uncomfortable submission to political interests, continuing to put the people of Bengal at risk,” she said.
She further stated that supplementary electoral rolls are still not published, in clear disregard of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions, leaving citizens anxious and uncertain. “Meanwhile, senior officers from critical agencies like IB, STF, and CID are being selectively removed and dispatched out of the state, pointing to a calculated attempt to cripple Bengal’s administrative machinery.”
“Why is the BJP so desperate? Why this relentless targeting of Bengal and its people? What satisfaction do they derive from forcing citizens, even after 78 years of Independence, to stand in queues and prove their own citizenship?” she questioned.
“The contradictions in the Commission’s actions expose its complete collapse of credibility. It claims that removed officers should not be assigned election duties, yet within hours, the same officers are sent out as election observers. The appointment of the Commissioners of Police of Siliguri and Bidhannagar as observers, without even putting replacements in place, left two vital urban centres effectively headless. It was only after this glaring lapse came to light that rushed corrections followed. This is not governance. It reflects chaos, confusion, and sheer incompetence being passed off as authority,” Mamata said.
“Bengal will fight, Bengal will resist, and Bengal will decisively defeat every attempt to impose a divisive and destructive agenda on its soil,” she asserted.
