Trinamool moves ECI accusing BJP of using agencies to hamper poll campaign

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Friday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) accusing the BJP of deliberately trying to spoil its poll campaign in West Bengal by unleashing different central agencies against its leaders.

Instead of registering the complaint with the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), a member of the West Bengal cabinet flew to Delhi and lodged the complaint directly with the ECI at its headquarters there.

A Trinamool delegation led by state minister Shashi Panja went to the office of the ECI in the national capital on Friday afternoon and submitted a memorandum to the poll panel in the matter.

“The issue will be discussed on Monday when our delegation will revisit the ECI office," Panja said.

Panja was accompanied by four Trinamool Rajya Sabha members -- Derek O’Brien, Saket Gokhale, Dola Sen, and Sagarika Ghosh.

“At a time when the Model Code of Conduct is already in place, our leaders like LS candidate Mahua Moitra and state minister Chandranath Sinha, among others, are being harassed time and again by the different central agencies.

"Other than the CBI and ED, other agencies such as the NIA and the Income Tax Department have also been unleashed (against Trinamool leaders). And all this is happening only in West Bengal. We feel the ECI has the authority to control this since it is the poll panel's duty to ensure that elections are held in an unbiased manner in the country. We made the same appeal to the Commission," Panja told reporters in Delhi.