Protests over SIR
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday agreed to Trinamool Congress’s request for a meeting with the poll body, against the backdrop of the party attributing the recent suicides and deaths of booth level officers (BLOs) to “workload” arising out of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) in the state, reports Bharti Jain.Responding to the request from TMC MP Derek O’Brien for an appointment to a 10-member delegation of party MPs, the commission, in a letter addressed to party chairperson Mamata Banerjee and copied to Derek, invited the delegation – though a truncated one, comprising the TMC’s ‘authorised representative’ and four other members – for a meeting at 11 am on Friday (Nov 28).Mamata had Monday written to EC expressing concerns over the proposed hiring of 1,000 data entry operators by the West Bengal chief electoral officer and the EC proposal to set up polling stations in private housing complexes.EC, in its reply Tuesday, said it welcomes regular interaction with political parties and sought names of the five members for the TMC delegation. The reduced strength of the delegation was, however, questioned by national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who asked why EC was scared to face 10 MPs. He even dared EC to telecast the meeting live.Derek, meanwhile, wrote to EC again Tuesday, reiterating the 10 names for the delegation. Interestingly, the ‘authorised representatives’ of the party – who, as per EC records, are Lok Sabha MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Kakoli Dastidar – do not figure on this list of 10.Sources in EC said as per the rule, only the party president or “authorised party representatives” declared to the commission can nominate members of their party’s delegation for a meeting with EC. Commission sources said it may write back to Derek pointing out this norm and request that the communication naming members of the delegation be sent to it by either Trinamool chairperson Mamata or its two ‘authorised representatives’, as per EC records.
