Kolkata, 19 March (H.S.): Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Election Commission of India of “singling out and targeting” West Bengal, alleging unprecedented administrative interference ahead of the Assembly elections.

In a post on social media, the chief minister claimed that more than 50 senior officials, including the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police, and several top-ranking police and administrative officers, had been “summarily and arbitrarily removed” even before the formal notification of polls.

“This is not administrative action, rather political interference of the highest order,” she said, adding that the “systematic politicisation of institutions meant to remain impartial” amounted to an assault on the Constitution.

Banerjee further alleged that the conduct of the poll panel reflected “clear bias” at a time when a “flawed” electoral revision process was underway, claiming that over 200 lives had already been lost, and that people in the state were being put at risk.

She also claimed that supplementary electoral rolls had not yet been published, allegedly in disregard of directions of the Supreme Court of India, leaving citizens “anxious and uncertain”.

The Trinamool Congress supremo alleged that senior officers from agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau, Special Task Force and Criminal Investigation Department were being selectively removed and sent out of the state, terming it an attempt to “cripple” the administrative machinery.

Questioning the role of the Bharatiya Janata Party, she asked why the party was “so desperate” and accused it of trying to force citizens to “prove their own citizenship”.

Banerjee also flagged what she described as “contradictions” in the Commission’s actions, alleging that officers removed from election duties were being reassigned as poll observers. She cited instances involving police commissioners of Siliguri and Bidhannagar, claiming their appointment as observers left key urban centres “effectively headless” before corrective steps were taken.

Describing the situation as an “undeclared emergency” and akin to an “unpromulgated form of President’s rule”, Banerjee alleged attempts to capture the state through “coercion, intimidation and misuse of institutions”.

She expressed solidarity with officials of the state government and asserted that Bengal would “resist” and “defeat” any such attempts.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey