The voting for the first phase of Bengal elections is set to take place tomorrow, April 23. The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are locked in a tough fight to form the government. CPM and Congress are also in the contest but they are unlikely to make any impact on the results.
Ahead of the voting, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the BJP, alleging that the party arranged free train travel for voters in an attempt to influence the electoral outcome.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien wrote to the Election Commission making these allegations. “The Indian Railways is under the administrative control of the Union Government, and cannot be deployed, directly or indirectly, for partisan electoral purposes. The involvement by BJP, in arranging such transport at the cost of public exchequer, raises a serious apprehension of misuse of official position and access to State-controlled resources,” the letter from the MP said.
The complaint further read, “It has come to our attention through a social media post on ‘X’ that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including its Gujarat Unit, has arranged and facilitated special trains and provided free travel, food and other refreshments for transporting migrant workers to West Bengal (who are registered voters of West Bengal). This is nothing but a propaganda aimed to mobilise supporters in favour of BJP and to influence the electoral outcome.”
TMC has asked the Election Commission to initiate action against the BJP and to include the entire expenditure incurred on these “special trains” in the election expense accounts of all concerned candidates.
However, this begs the question, is TMC getting nervous ahead of the polling with all the eligible voters from Bengal making their way to the state to cast their votes?
The Indian Railways is trying to ensure all eligible voters take part in the elections, but TMC seems sure that all these returning voters will cast their votes for the BJP.
Bengal is the most keenly watched state election this year, and it remains to be seen if Mamata Banerjee can continue her reign as the CM of the state.
