Election Commission’s ‘observers’ caught threatening Trinamool workers

Police observers deployed by the Election Commission in West Bengal are courting controversy by threatening voters even as the Election Commission issued a new list of ‘trouble makers’ on Monday, 27 April with thousands of names of people associated with Trinamool Congress across 142 constituencies where polling is due on Wednesday. The ECI circulated the list seeking preventative action/detention, citing the Calcutta High Court order that had stayed its earlier advisory on ‘trouble makers’ with the rider that action could be taken if an offence is committed by the listed people.

Prime minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah left the state after whirlwind campaigning with the PM promising to return for the swearing-in of a BJP government and the home minister reassuring that central forces will remain in Bengal for 60 days after the polls. The home minister’s assurance, complained Trinamool Congress, is designed to assure immunity to ‘goondas’ associated with the BJP and cited the attack on Trinamool candidate Mitali Bag on Friday. Shah’s promise could also demoralise BJP’s own voters during the second phase of polling as it is seen as an admission that BJP would fail to form the government, point out observers.

Meanwhile, police observers deployed in the state, IPS officers from BJP-ruled states, are courting controversy. Trinamool Congress had earlier circulated CCTV footage of one of the observers meeting the BJP candidate in the lobby of a hotel in Diamond Harbour. At least two other IPS officers, one from UP and the other from Odisha, have been caught on camera threatening Trinamool workers, advising them to stay at home on the polling day.  

“Jahangir ki ghar wale bhi khade hai, usko bata dena kaide se — yeh baar baar jo khabar aa raha hai ke Jahangir ke log dhamka rahe hain, toh phir achchhe se khabar lenge. Phir baad mein rona aur pachtana mat” (Family members of Jahangir (Trinamool candidate) are also here; tell them straight that if complaints of his workers holding out threats persist, we will take good care of them; they should not regret their action later), says Ajay Pal Sharma, IPS and a police observer posted by the Election Commission in South 24-Pargana district, where polling is due on Wednesday.

“I have served as an Election Observer in three different Lok Sabha elections across different states. The cardinal rule drilled into us was simple: an election observer is the eyes and ears of the Election Commission — but he must keep his mouth shut,” exclaimed a retired IAS officer. Sharma, a controversial police officer from Uttar Pradesh cadre, can be seen surrounded by central para-military troops as he threatens a group of villagers including women.

All India Trinamool Congress went on an overdrive, warning ‘Observers’ to do their duty within the bounds of law.  The party posted on social media that “Yogi Adityanath’s encounter specialist Ajay Pal Sharma is the same man whose badge of honour is a body count from “encounters” and whose real speciality is turning the police uniform into a personal ATM and a tool for personal vendettas”. An SIT, the post claimed, recommended a vigilance probe against Sharma who was booked for criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, and causing the disappearance of evidence.

In a separate post, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra addressed another IPS officer, Battula Gangadhar of the Odisha cadre posted as observer in Nadia district. “This is not Boudh in Odisha where you can beat up your juniors. Stop forcing police to threaten our workers & ask them to remain indoors. It’s illegal. You will face the music, Moitra posted on X.

A Trinamool Congress spokesperson said in a statement, “During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission deployed 3.4 lakh Central Force personnel, roughly 3,400 companies, across 543 constituencies nationwide. Yet in Bengal alone, for this election, they have deployed 2,400 companies, 2.4 lakh Central Force personnel, along with 95 Police Observers. They are conducting midnight raids, barging into the homes of ordinary citizens and Trinamool Congress workers in the dead of night, terrorising families, intimidating voters, outraging the modesty of women in the absence of their husbands, and not even sparing children”.

Will the Election Commission allow the same liberty to ‘Observers’ when Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in 2027, they asked. Will IPS officers from West Bengal be allowed to threaten Bajrang Dal and RSS workers in Uttar Pradesh, they wondered. And will the deployment of central forces be as extensive there?