PASSIONS RAN HIGH in Bengal as BJP president Amit Shah led a road show in Kolkata on May 14, five days before the final polling day. His convoy was stoned at Calcutta University and Vidyasagar College, and the statue of cultural icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was broken in retaliatory violence. At a news conference in Delhi the following day, Shah accused the Election Commission of being “partial to the West Bengal government” and allowing rampant violence in all six phases of polling. The Union home ministry also wrote to the commission about the violence.
The man behind the road show, the BJP’s star strategist Sunil Deodhar, told THE WEEK: “People wanted the prime minister to do the road show. Thank God I did not try it. I had a hunch that the Trinamool Congress would create trouble. There were issues of security clearance from the Special Protection Group [for the PM]. So, I decided to press for Amitji. But Trinamool rowdies tried to hurt him.”
Hours after Shah’s news conference, the Election Commission curtailed campaigning in Bengal by a day and removed two officers—Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya and Additional Director General (Criminal Investigation Department) Rajeev Kumar, who was recently embroiled in the Saradha scam investigation. Both were known to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While Bhattacharya was removed for intervening in the election process, Kumar, in a historic yet controversial decision, was transferred to the home ministry in Delhi.
On May 15, Bhattacharya had written to the commission about the “excesses” of the Central armed police forces deployed for election duty in Bengal. He had done so without informing state Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab. Mamata had allegedly nudged Bhattacharya to do so, thus violating the model code of conduct.
“As she plunges into a deep crisis, she has lost her senses,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told THE WEEK. “Can our party, which worships people like Vidyasagar, break his statue? It’s the handiwork of her own party men.”
Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajesh Kumar, in his report to the commission, said that Rajeev Kumar, who was removed as police commissioner before elections were announced, continued to issue directives to police officers. He is said to have intervened in the poll process in all six phases.
Said Deodhar: “We never wanted the campaigning to be reduced by a day. Even the prime minister is supposed to come tomorrow [May 16] and hold two rallies. But Mamata’s hoodlums are responsible for the mess. Bengal has earned a bad name because of her.”
The Trinamool has blamed the BJP for manipulating the commission. “I have said time and again that the BJP controls the commission,” said Mamata. “It has been proved.”
She warned poll observers in the state and said the commission should have consulted the state government before taking such an unprecedented decision. “However, I am not going to the Supreme Court,” she said. “I will wait for the people’s verdict on May 23.”