“The EC is functioning on behalf of the BJP,” alleged Kunal Ghosh.

Raising concerns over voter deletions, Ghosh alleged: “Legitimate voters in the state are being removed while new names are being added from outside. These are not isolated incidents… there is a pattern that people are beginning to notice now.”

Alleging “EC bias”, Ghosh shared the example of Surajit Roy, who was previously appointed as the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Nandigram-II Block. The TMC had earlier complained to EC against Roy’s appointment as the returning officer for Bhabanipur, arguing that “he is closely associated with BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari”, the party candidate facing off with the chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the seat.

The party had claimed that there was photographic evidence that spoke of Roy’s close association with the Leader of the Opposition.

Meanwhile, the TMC leader accused EC of “fighting for BJP under a mask”.  “This is a serious concern. It is necessary to bring to people’s notice prior to elections,” Ghosh added.

“We have registered many of our complaints with the EC but to no avail,” he said further while quoting an incident in Panihati where a sector officer was reportedly seen putting up BJP flags.

During the press conference, the TMC also announced the formal induction of advocate Anirban Banerjee into the party fold. Asserting that CM Mamata Banerjee will be the clear winner in the upcoming elections, Ghosh said:  “Jotoi koro hamla, abar jitbe Bangla” (no matter how much you attack, Bengal will win again). Till the filling of this report, there was no response from the EC or the BJP over the TMC allegations.

(Jigisha Seal & Avantika Basu are interns with The Indian Express, Kolkata)