Daring the Election Commission to “initiate action” against her, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that she would not transfer any officer as per its instructions.
Earlier, the Election Commission transferred one district magistrate (DM) and five Superintendents of Police (SPs) following complaints filed by the opposition parties.
Soon after, addressing a meeting in Hooghly, Ms. Banerjee said she would “not accept” the decision of the commission and warned that she would not be “responsible” for any “chaos” if the EC meddled with the law and order.
The Chief Minister alleged that the EC, along with other parties, was hatching a “conspiracy” against her. “ … there is a conspiracy hatched by the EC, the Central government, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. But I will fight it alone — I do not care about conspiracies,” she told a crowd of several thousands. However, she added that she respected the EC “but the EC should also respect others.”
Ms. Banerjee claimed that the EC had drawn an election schedule to ensure the victory of Congress leaders. “I have never heard that election is continuing for more than two months and one district is witnessing election in two separate phases. That has been done so that the election could be rigged,” she said.
The opposition parties have condemned the Chief Minister’s comments.
