KOLKATA: Amid an ongoing furore over the functioning of poll authorities, former West Bengal State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha alleged that during the 2023 panchayat polls, orders had reached police stations directly from “Kolkata”, bypassing district officials, and even top bureaucrats had been helpless.
Sinha, who oversaw the 2023 panchayat polls, made the allegations in an interview to News18 Bangla news channel, recalling his experience dealing with complaints during the violence-marred rural elections when the TMC was in power.
Sinha had held several senior positions in the West Bengal government, including that of the chief secretary, before heading the state election commission.
According to Sinha, whenever he sought action on a complaint during the panchayat polls, he would often find himself caught between district magistrates and superintendents of police.
“If I called the district magistrate after receiving a complaint, he would say the SP was not listening. If I called the SP, he would say, ‘Sir, orders are coming directly from Kolkata to the police station’,” said Sinha, who was then considered one of the most trusted bureaucrats of former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
When he asked who was issuing the instructions, the response, according to the former state election commissioner, was: “Sir, you understand.”
Sinha did not, however, specify what those alleged instructions were or identify the person, office or authority that was purportedly issuing them.
His broader allegation was that the normal administrative chain of command had effectively been bypassed during the election process.
The former bureaucrat also claimed that the state’s top administrative and police officials were themselves in a helpless position despite occupying positions of considerable authority.
“The chief secretary, home secretary and DG had their hands tied,” Sinha said, adding that while there was regular communication with senior officials, “they had all the powers but could not use them”.
Sinha also recalled his experience of hearing complaints following directions from the Calcutta High Court.
“I heard at least 200 cases on the direction of the High Court. I felt bad listening to the complainants, but there was nothing I could do,” he said.
According to him, reports sent by district magistrates and SPs frequently gave the administration a clean chit.
He also claimed that when the commission sought CCTV footage in connection with complaints, district authorities sometimes said the footage was unavailable.
“I would then say, ‘File an FIR saying that the camera has gone missing’,” Sinha said.
The 2023 panchayat elections were marked by allegations of widespread violence and irregularities during nomination, polling and counting, with opposition parties repeatedly questioning the role of the state administration and the ruling Trinamool Congress. The TMC had rejected allegations of systematic electoral malpractice.
Sinha’s remarks have drawn a sharp response from the Mamata Banerjee faction-TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.
He questioned why Sinha and retired IAS officer Debashis Sen, who has also spoken about the functioning of the administration during the TMC regime, did not raise such concerns while they were in office.
“Was he sucking his thumb then?” Ghosh asked, questioning the silence of the former bureaucrats while they held senior positions.
“You saw everything through your eyes then. Why did Rajiva Sinha and Debashis Sen not say these things? Are they trying to be on the good books of the new BJP government by making these allegations now?” he said.
Ghosh wondered whether the recent controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had prompted the BJP to get former bureaucrats to make such allegations.
The remarks come against the backdrop of a separate controversy over reported differences within the three-member Election Commission of India regarding decisions on electoral-roll revision.
A report in The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders concerning the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The reported objections covered issues including deletion and addition of names, changes in forms for new voters, access to voter data and appeals concerning restoration of names in West Bengal.
The Election Commission has rejected suggestions of a split within the poll panel, saying decisions relating to the SIR exercise were taken unanimously and that differences or observations during institutional deliberations were part of normal institutional functioning.
