‘Not servant of any political party’: Bengal CEO hits back at Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Tuesday hit back at outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the allegation that the Bengal CEO had worked for the BJP during the Assembly polls. Agarwal asserted that he is a public servant and “not a servant of any political party”.
Speaking to IANS, Agarwal said: “(Bengal) CEO has worked for the people. I have not come here to work for the BJP or any other party.”
“I have cleared UPSC and come here on my own merit. I am here to work for the people. I am a public servant, not a servant of any political party, political individual or political post,” he added.
Reacting to Banerjee’s allegation that she was kicked during her visit to a counting centre, the Bengal CEO denied having received any such formal complaint.
He said, “There would have been CCTV footage if she had been beaten up. If somebody is attacked, he or she will file a complaint.”
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee came in support of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation of counting misappropriation by the Election Commission (EC) in the Assembly poll results.
“There has been misappropriation in the counting of votes this time,” he told reporters.
He further alleged that the counting agents of Trinamool Congress were “brutally assaulted and thrown by the CRPF”.
“It is a great threat to democracy. There was no transparency in the counting,” the Trinamool MP further alleged.
He also questioned: “If they (EC) wished to maintain transparency, why was CCTV not there, whose footage could be shown to the outsiders. Why was it not shown in the press counters?”
Accusing the BJP and the EC, Kalyan Banerjee reiterated: “They have looted everything during counting.”
He further claimed that there is no such rule that a chief minister has to resign upon being defeated. “It is not mandatory for the chief minister to resign, as after a period of time, the Assembly is dissolved.”
Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee had ruled out the possibility of voluntarily tendering her resignation to the Governor as the outgoing Chief Minister.