Kolkata, 18 February (H.S.): Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday issued a scathing statement on the social media platform X, raising serious questions about the functioning of the Election Commission of India. He alleged that some Election Commission-related directives are being issued via WhatsApp instead of through formal and accountable channels, which is a blatant violation of the Supreme Court's directives.

Abhishek Banerjee asked whether the Election Commission's Voter Awareness Unit (SVEEP) believes that Supreme Court directives can be blatantly ignored. He said that the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized transparency, due process, and official communication channels, yet informal methods are being adopted.

He claimed that Special Roll Observer C. Murugan issued instructions to micro observers through WhatsApp groups regarding the acceptance of birth certificates, in order to increase the number of deletions from the voter list. Banerjee reminded that the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the role of micro observers should only be supportive, not directive.

The TMC leader also alleged that the login credentials of district-level roll observers are being accessed from a central location in Kolkata. He claimed that this data is being misused to target a select community and that, if an independent investigation is conducted, tower locations and IP addresses will reveal that the logins were made from elsewhere.

Abhishek Banerjee said that the Election Commission's legitimacy derives not from political patronage, but from public trust. He warned that the entire matter would be taken to the Supreme Court and that anyone acting at the behest of the landlords of Delhi would face strict and uncompromising legal action.

At the time of filing of this news, there had been no official response from the Election Commission on this matter.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey