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Accusing the BJP and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of colluding to target its workers, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday asked the Election Commission to change the head of the central agency to ensure a level playing field for all parties.
A delegation of TMC MPs met the Commission on Monday evening to hand over the memorandum. After that, the leaders sat on a dharna outside the poll panel’s headquarters, from where they were removed by the Delhi Police. An EC spokesperson declined to comment on the dharna.
The TMC memorandum alleged that the BJP was misusing the NIA to target political opponents. The party said a BJP member, Jitendra Tiwari, had met NIA Superintendent of Police (SP) Dhan Ram Singh on March 26 and the visitors’ register for Singh’s residence shows that Tiwari had gone to his flat. Along with its complaint, the TMC submitted a copy of the visitors’ register. The TMC said Tiwari was seen entering the flat with a packet in his hand and when he left an hour later, he was empty-handed.
“There is reason to believe that the packet contained a list of names of AITC’s booth level workers and local leaders who were meant to be targeted and/or arrested by the NIA under written instructions from BJP. It is further believed that the packet contained monetary consideration for NIA’s Mr Singh, in exchange for him carrying out BJP’s illegal biddings,” the TMC alleged.
The party said the NIA issued notices to various TMC members the next day, March 27. The TMC members then told the central agency that they were engaged in political commitments and would go to the NIA’s office after the elections, after which the investigative agency re-issued the notices asking them to be present on March 30.
“In the interregnum, anticipating coercive measures by NIA, AITC’s members filed a criminal revisional application challenging NIA’s notices and investigations. The same is pending adjudication before the Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta…To circumvent any protection that may have been granted by the Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta, the NIA illegally raided multiple residences of AITC’s workers on the intervening night of 05.04.2024 and 06.04.2024 at about 03:30 AM. During such raids, they broke down doors and manhandled and outraged the modesty of women of such households. Thereafter, they arrested AITC’s workers,” the TMC alleged.
The complaint also alleged that the NIA had made “false claims” that the women whose homes were raised had attacked the NIA team.
“When law and order is a State subject under the Constitution, the NIA ought to have informed the local police before conducting such raids. Even though the raids were conducted at about 03:30 AM, the NIA informed the local police only at about 05:00 AM. This shows the deliberate intention of the NIA to terrorize the AITC members in the dead of night to boost the morale of the BJP workers,” the TMC said.
The memorandum also sought the Election Commission’s intervention to have assistance from the state government released for those affected by the thunderstorm and tornado on March 31.
“The residents of West Bengal, particularly those in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, require immediate assistance from their State Government to provide food, clean drinking water and immediate steps to rehabilitate the affected persons… As there is an embargo upon release of new funds and/or execution of new projects during the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission is humbly requested to relax such restrictions, on humanitarian grounds,” the TMC said.
