Election Commission biased against Mamata Banerjee: Shiv Sena
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday alleged that the Election Commission was "biased" against Mamata Banerjee, after the poll panel recently barred the West Bengal chief minister from campaigning for 24 hours over certain remarks made by her.
The stature of a constitutional body like the Election Commission (EC) should not be demeaned for political benefits, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.
Assembly elections are currently underway in West Bengal and the Shiv Sena, which is not contesting the polls, has extended its support to Trinamool Congress head Banerjee.
"The Election Commission is biased against Mamata Banerjee. It is our request to the EC with folded hands that it should not listen to the BJP alone, but to everyone. It should not be biased," the Marathi daily said.
Everyone has lost the sense of decorum (during campaign) in West Bengal, but Banerjee alone is being punished for it, the editorial claimed.
"The EC has busted the myth of everyone being treated equal before law and it chose the land of West Bengal to do so. It seems to have forgotten that West Bengal is the land of revolutionaries and rebels," it said.
Mamata Banerjee's lone battle will be remembered in history, irrespective of the outcome of this election, the editorial said.
The EC seems to be really irked with Banerjee for dubbing the model code of conduct as the "Modi code of conduct", it said.
But, the ground reality in West Bengal is concerning as the Centre-deployed CRPF jawans opened fire on a mob instead of controlling the violence, the Sena said.
The Centre should take the responsibility for the violence, it said.
"There is no doubt that the reputation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is at stake, but their path to win the state (polls) is against the democracy and freedom of people," the editorial alleged.
The stature of a constitutional body like the EC should not be demeaned for political benefits, it added.
"Why is the EC not noticing that after Modi's Bangladesh visit, there has been a rise in violence in West Bengal?" the Marathi publication asked.
"Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the reason behind Modi's visits to the US and Bangladesh was same political benefit," it said.
The editorial also backed Banerjee over her strong criticism of the Centre and BJP leaders who have been making controversial statements during campaigning in West Bengal.
A video clip of a BJP leader's appeal to locals to not be afraid of the (West Bengal) state police has gone viral, it said, adding that what happened in Cooch Behar and Sitalkuchi was not different from the leader's comments.
What wrong did Mamata do if she strongly criticised it? the Sena asked.
"The EC has lost its stature and it is surrounded by a fog of suspicion over its role," the editorial claimed.
It is surprising that BJP leaders, who have allegedly said there would be more incidents like Cooch Behar and Sitalkuchi violence, are not charged with violation of the model code of conduct, the Sena said.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
