The BJP today alleged that West Bengal State Election Commissioner A K Singh has been receiving threats from the ruling Trinamool Congress over conduct of panchayat polls, and his mobile phone was being tapped and land line calls were recorded.
State Election Commission Additional Secretary Shantanu Mukherjee, however, said the Commission has no knowledge of the alleged tapping of mobile phones and recording of landline calls, and it is not acting under any threat.
"The announcement of a one-phase panchayat polls on May 14 has been made under threat and intimidation by the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders and ministers. The SEC should apprise the court of the situation in a private statement to clear the air," BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha told a press conference.
"SEC A K Singh had even told a BJP delegation that his mobile phone is being tapped and the land line calls are recorded," Sinha claimed.
When contacted, Mukherjee told PTI that the SEC did not have any idea of what Sinha had said.
"We have no idea of what he was talking about. We have no knowledge about any mobile phone of SEC officials being tapped or landline calls recorded," he said adding that the SEC was also not acting under any threat.
SEC AK Singh was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
Demanding the May 14 panchayat poll date be scrapped, Sinha said the panchayat polls should be conducted by the SEC under the supervision of the Calcutta High Court which is hearing several petitions on the panchayat polls.
"The entire state is waiting for the High Court verdict on the polls. Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee had said it was the duty of the SEC to ensure security during the panchayat elections. But who will ensure the security of the SEC who is under serious threat," Sinha said.
He alleged that the TMC had prevented the opposition from filing nominations in over 20,000 seats or 34 per cent of the total seats in the three-tier panchayat polls.
Till May 4, seven BJP functionaries had been killed in panchayat-related clashes in the state, 412 party workers hospitalised and 38 functionaries went missing, Sinha alleged.
On deployment of central forces for the polls, Sinha said even if the forces were requisitioned, they would be confined to camps. For this reason "we call for holding of panchayat poll under the supervision of the judiciary."
Reacting to the allegations of the BJP leader, the ruling TMC claimed that the saffron party was trying to exert pressure on the State Election Commissioner and he should protest against such attempts.
"The BJP leaders were trying to exert all sorts of pressure on SEC A K Singh so that he acts in favour of them on various issues and Singh should protest against such machinations to monopolise him," TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee told reporters here.
On Sinha's charge of the SEC's phone being tapped, Chatterjee said there was "not a grain of truth" in it.
About the BJP's demand for a three-phase poll, he said the saffron party does not want the Muslims to exercise their franchise since the dates will then clash with the month of Ramzan.
The entire election process should end before May 16-17 as during the month of Ramzan, after an entire day fasting, Muslims could find it difficult to take part in the voting process and that too in such hot and humid conditions, All Bengal Minorities Youth Federation had earlier appealed to the SEC.
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