A murder lawsuit has been brought against the Election Commission by the widow of a TMC nominee who died of Covid. Kajal Sinha, the party’s Khardah candidate, died on April 25. Nandita Sinha, his widow, has accused Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain and other officials of “careless and reckless” actions that resulted in her husband’s and many other candidates’ deaths.
In her complaint to the police, Nandita Sinha accused the EC of “self-serving blind interests,” writing that while the whole nation was “struggling to deal with the coronavirus epidemic,” the EC settled on a staggering eight-phase poll in Bengal that lasted from March 27 to April 29.
Elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Pondicherry, on the other hand, were conducted in one day and completed in one day… And in Assam, voting took place in three phases over the course of three days,” she wrote.
She also said in the complaint that the Trinamool Congress had asked the Commission twice, on April 16 and April 20, to combine the remaining phases of the polls, citing a “huge flare-up of Covid events” in the district.
She wrote that the Commission had “frivolously responded (citing) its illusory and cosmetic precautions in the form of a ban on campaigning after 7 p.m. and a 72-hour extension of the silent time.”
Even after the Calcutta High Court raised an alert, she said, the Commission “deliberately ignored all evidences of the imminent catastrophe.”
Nandita Sinha’s action came only two days after the Madras High Court slammed the Commission for its handling of the polls in five states.
The Election Commission was “singularly responsible for the second wave of Covid,” the court said on Monday. The judges had said, “Your officers should actually be booked on murder charges.”
The Election Commission said in a statement yesterday that implementing Covid protection policies is the responsibility of state governments, not the Election Commission. It said that the polling body’s sole responsibility is to hold free, equal, and secure elections.
Nandita Sinha said in her complaint that during the election, the Election Commission was in charge of law and order in Bengal, as well as the Central paramilitary forces, and was in a position to ensure that Covid protocols were followed.
The Election Commission has previously been censured by the Calcutta High Court on similar grounds. “The Election Commission has the authority to act, but what is it doing with elections in these difficult times? The European Commission is simply issuing circulars and leaving it to the public to decide. The EC, on the other hand, has enforcing jurisdiction “According to the court.
The Election Commission has been roundly chastised by the Trinamool Congress for the extraordinary eight-phase elections. It has also accused the Commission of being a mouthpiece for the BJP, which is vying for power in the state.
Concerns about violence had been voiced the loudest by the BJP and the Commission, while announcing the polls, had indicated that security played a role in the decision.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said after the elections, she will approach the Supreme Court over the issue.
