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Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday stepped up her attack on the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying CCTV footage of voting in every constituency in West Bengal polls should be preserved and alleged that the CEC worked to deprive people of their rights.
Addressing a press conference here, Mamata Banerjee alleged that EVMs were hacked during the Bengal polls, which Trinamool Congress lost. The BJP formed its first government in Bengal after assembly polls earlier this year. She said a storm is coming and people will give them a fitting reply. We were leading by 53,000 votes. We were beaten up, and the CRPF blocked the gate so we couldn't enter. They assaulted our agents and drove them all away. They blocked the CCTV cameras. Where is the CCTV footage? We want the CCTV footage from every constituency to remain intact. They locked and blocked the CCTV. They hacked the EVMs...After the second or third round, they effectively took control of the counting process...A storm is coming; the people will give them a fitting reply, Banerjee said. She was accompanied by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee referred to the SIR process in West Bengal and said the party had approached the Supreme Court with its grievances. "There is currently talk about 'Vanish Kumar', the person who is the present in-charge, the one responsible for safeguarding the public's citizenship and voting rights...He is the one who worked to deprive people of their rights. How can we forgive him?... I represent the people of India, Banerjee said. We spoke up back then about how the Election Commission centralized the EVM machines, the counting, and the election process, effectively capturing the entire system. We even approached the courts, but we received no justice. We visited the Election Commission's office with 100 victims, and they treated us with great disrespect," she added. Banerjee also attacked the statutory protection available to the Chief Election Commissioner. Referring to the SIR process, she said EROs have been left with no authority. She alleged that exercise is designed to benefit the BJP. Banerjee referred to the fire at a government building in Kolkata's Alipore area in June in which EVMs were destroyed. Kolkata Police constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the incident. Banerjee raised questions over the incident and linked it to her concerns over the election process. She also questioned the deployment of large central forces during the West Bengal Assembly elections and alleged that the security apparatus was used to influence the electoral process. Banerjee said her party had raised its concerns before and during the elections but alleged that its complaints were not acted upon. Is this a mockery of democracy? What a scandalous joke this is. You cannot treat people like this, she said. The TMC chief also alleged that SIR process had affected people who were otherwise eligible to remain on the electoral rolls. Mamata Banerjee held the press conference a day after meeting of INDIA bloc which strongly demanded removal of Gyanesh Kumar from his post. (ANI)
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