Some Central Poll Observers Went

Beyond Official Guidelines

B Prasant

THE Bengal Left Front chairman, Biman Basu has accused a few central election observers as going way beyond their official practices.  Biman Basu made it amply clear once again that the Bengal Left Front had no complaints against the Election Commission per se. A few political observers, said Basu, were found to be behaving like political personages of a particular kind. 

Generally, these poll observers have been found asking threatening questions of the electorate about their preference for the CPI(M) and the Left Front.  Pressure is being brought to bear by them on the police and the local administration to behave in a certain manner.  Basu gave concrete examples.

At Asansol, central poll observer Ratnamala Rowla has approached the voters and has threatened them with the words that she shall see how the CPI(M) get to win this time around.

At Basirhat, another observer A K Tandon has cast aspersions on the people over the traditionally high rate of polling and has even said that repolling would be organised if the poll rate was too high this time also.  This, Basu, said was going way beyond what was expected of an election observer.

At Diamond harbour, another central poll observer, A Y R Krishna Par has asked dangerous questions of the electorate as to why “have the Muslims traditionally voted for the CPI(M)?”  Here, the police have been asked to arrest all persons named by the Trinamul Congress aspirant Saugata Roy.  On May 4, Roy himself had boasted publicly that he “has worked to make Krishna Rao a poll observer.”

G B Patnaik, another poll observer at Diamond Harbour has forwarded to the returning officer a complaint which is an almost exact copy of that lodged by Ray, said Basu.

At Baruipur, observers, A K Joshi, and M Srinivasa Rao have directed the BDO to seize vehicles that carried men and women supporters of the CPI(M) who were going to attend a Party rallies.  The ‘norm’ has not been applied in cases of rallies organised by the Pradesh Congress and the Trinamul Congress.

At Serampore, observer Rakesh Garg went to the local police station, called for the crime rate charts, and asked for arrests of certain persons. 

At Arambagh, Rekha Goel ordered posters of the CPI(M) to be removed along with banners and festoons.

At Bishnupur, K C Verma kept badgering the electorate about whether they kept voting for the CPI(M) because they were threatened with guns and supplied with money?

At Katwa, Rajendra Prasad Jain, I N S Prasad, and K Ganeshan made anonymous enquiries with the electorate as to the reasons why they kept voting for the CPI(M). When challenged by a member of the electorate they identified themselves as election observers and hurriedly left the scene.  Later, R P Jain called for the arrest of certain CPI(M) workers.

All these complaints have been duly lodged with the CEC, said Basu who declared that no amount of conspiracy and foul play could possibly influence the democratically minded electorate of Bengal.