TMC Targets 5 EC Observers for WB Polls Over Graft, BJP Links

Kolkata: Trinamul Congress has targeted Election Commission's five observers over their alleged links to corruption and BJP following their deputation to the Assembly Election in West Bengal in the last couple of days.

On Thursday, TMC posted on X-handle, “We had all heard the old saying, “set a thief to catch a thief.” But what @ECISVEEP under Mr. Vanish Kumar is doing is “Set a thief to harass the innocent.”

Referring to the assignment of IPS officer Jayant Kant, whose wife is BJP leader Smrity Paswan in Odisha, the ruling party claimed, “We already exposed how the husband of a senior Bihar BJP leader was appointed Police Observer in Malda.”

It then pointed out four tainted IAS officers from various states in the post. One of them is Dheeraj Kumar, General Observer for Gazole, who is an “accused in the massive Rs 8,000 crore ambulance tender scam while serving as Maharashtra Health Commissioner.”

The next was Ajay Katesaria, General Observer for Bangaon Dakshin who has been “accused of illegally transferring over 40 acres of government land to private parties while Satna Collector. Found guilty in the Rewa Commissioner’s report and chargesheeted.”

Others were Gandam Chandrudu, the General Observer for Ballygunge who “faces a dowry harassment case from his tenure as Tribal Welfare Director in Andhra Pradesh” and Arindam Dakua, the General Observer for Madhyamgram, who “served as Private Secretary to BJP CM Mohan Charan Majhi in Odisha, a clear political appointee.”

TMC stated, “These are the people the Election Commission has entrusted with ensuring free, fair, peaceful and impartial elections in Bengal. The Vanish Commission has become a recruitment agency for the @BJP4India, planting accused scamsters, land scamsters, dowry accused, and active BJP loyalists as observers across Bengal. And Mr. Vanish Kumar is setting new standards of shamelessness every single day.”