New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday voiced support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying she is fighting to save democracy and accusing the BJP of using the Election Commission (EC) to win the upcoming Assembly polls in the state.
The former Delhi chief minister said the situation in West Bengal is similar to that in the national capital before the Assembly polls four years ago.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lost power to the BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls held in February 2022. Several big guns of the party, including Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, were defeated in the election.
“The BJP has turned the Election Commission into its weapon to win elections through deceit. What is happening today in West Bengal is exactly what happened in the Delhi elections as well,” Kejriwal said in a post on X.
He alleged that during the Delhi polls, names were struck off the voter list, police gave a free rein to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “thuggery” and the entire administration was engaged in ensuring the saffron party’s victory.
The very fabric of democracy was “torn apart”, the AAP leader said, adding, “Today, Mamata Didi too is fighting to save democracy. In this struggle, we stand with her.” Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Banerjee on Thursday expressed alarm over the “arbitrary removal of more than 50 senior officials” in the poll-bound state, describing it as “political interference of the highest order”.
Continuing with her tirade against the EC, the TMC supremo claimed that such action amounts to “systematic politicisation of institutions” and a “direct assault on the Constitution”.
After announcing the schedule for the Assembly polls, the EC has ordered several reshuffles of senior officers, including the transfer of Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, and the removal of Director General of Police (DGP) Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar.
Polling for the West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases — on April 23 and April 29 — and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 4. PTI VIT RC
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