Using the panchayat-election-in-Ramzan as a powerful weapon, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday renewed attacks against the state election commission, vowing to take revenge.
Very conveniently glossing over the fact that the schedule of the rural polls was finalised by the Supreme Court in consultation with the state election commission and the state government, she held SEC solely responsible for the timing of the polls.
Aggressively playing the Ramzan card with a clear eye on the Muslim votebank, the chief minister said that the SEC deliberately scheduled the polls in the month of Ramzan and did not feel it necessary to even seek her government’s opinion. “I will take revenge for this,” she thundered. Ms Banerjee was addressing an election rally at Joynagar in South 24 Parganas.
From the beginning her government and her party had been on a collision course with the SEC because it refused to toe her line and buckle under pressure. Continuing its tradition of non-cooperation with the SEC, the Trinamul Congress on Saturday boycotted the meeting.