TMC seeks removal of EC’s West Bengal in-charge, accuses him of being ’tilted towards BJP’

Trinamool MP Derek O'Brian says Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain would be impartial and his approach towards all parties would not be equal.

TMC MP Derek O'Brian (File photo)

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday demanded the removal of Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain as in-charge of the State Election Commission, accusing him of being “tilted towards the BJP”.

In a letter to the Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal, Rajya Sabha MP and senior TMC leader Derek O’Brian said, “We have serious doubt that Shri Sudip Jain would be impartial and his approach towards all parties would not be equal. He is tilted towards the BJP, the reason why all his actions were favourable towards the party. We have no confidence in Sri Sudip Jain.”

He added, “In light of the above, we call upon you to withdraw Sudip Jain an in-charge of on behalf of Election Commission of India for West Bengal Assembly Election, 2021.”

This comes barely two days after the Trinamool Congress approached the Election Commission in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo being used on digital Covid-19 vaccination certificates given to beneficiaries. Derek O’Brien had questioned whether this was in violation of the model code of conduct after dates for Assembly elections in four states and a Union Territory were announced.

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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