West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that it was not possible to remove State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha, after reports claimed that Governor CV Ananda Bose had refused to accept his joining letter.
Banerjee said that the process of removing an official from the post would be a cumbersome one, similar to that of impeaching judges. She, however, said that the government does not have any information on whether the governor had indeed refused to accept the joining letter.
Sinha was named as the State Election Commissioner on June 7 after the governor cleared his appointment. On the next day, he announced that panchayat elections in the state would be held on July 8 and votes will be counted on July 11.
On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court admonished Sinha and told him to “step down, if it is difficult for him to take orders”, The Indian Express reported. The High Court made the remarks while hearing a petition about the deployment of central forces during the elections.
The court told the state Election Commission to requisition over 82,000 personnel from central forces for deployment during the election.
On Wednesday night, Bose returned Sinha’s joining report as the head of the state poll panel, unidentified sources told PTI. This was reportedly after Sinha failed to appear before the governor after he was summoned to give an explanation on recent poll-related violence in the state.
Since the election date was announced, at least seven people have died in political violence. The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Left and the Congress have accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of preventing their candidates from filing nominations.
Banerjee on Thursday said that the governor himself had approved Sinha’s appointment and it was “not that easy” to remove him.
“Misuse of the office of the governor to interfere in state affairs is an ever-looming threat under the BJP-led Central government,” the chief minister said.
The Trinamool Congress chief claimed that the polling process in West Bengal had never been so peaceful before. “It is cadres of our party who have been killed,” she claimed. “There have been some incidents in three to four booths.”
On Wednesday, the High Court noted that during the 2013 panchayat elections in the state, the poll panel had asked for 82,000 personnel from central forces. It directed the commission to requisition more companies of central forces than it did in 2013.
The State Election Commission had sought to deploy 22 companies from central forces for the upcoming election while in 2013, a total of 825 companies had been deployed. To this, the High Court said it “reposed great faith” in the commission, but it did not live up to its confidence.
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