We showcaused you, not your govt, EC tells Didi

Rejects chief secy’s reply, gives TMC chief 3 days

THE ELECTION Commission has rejected the West Bengal chief secretary’s response to a showcause notice it had issued to Mamata Banerjee. The EC wrote to her Tuesday saying it had sent her the showcause in her capacity as Trinamool Congress chairperson and not to her government.

The EC gave Mamata another three days to reply personally. Failing this, it said, it will take a final decision without hearing her defence. The original deadline having expired on April 17, the EC has now directed Mamata to file her reply by April 22.

Mamata has been under the EC’S scanner since she announced the creation of a new district in the poll-bound state, which prima facie violates the model code of conduct. On being informed about the notice, she had responded in an election rally the same day by saying, “On the first day of the Bengali new year, the EC has sent me a showcause notice over things I had said. I will say it again, I will say it a thousand times.”

Asked whether the party would now reply to the notice, Trinamool chief spokesperson Derek O’brien said, “We have all respect for the EC,” but insisted, “On this specific issue, the letter was addressed to the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. It was perfectly in order for the chief secretary to reply. This evening the EC has virtually accepted our position. We were right. They have now sent a fresh letter to Mamatadi’s residential address. This confirms what we have been saying for the last 72 hours.”

In the original reply defending Mamata, chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee had said the decision to make Asansol, Kalimpong, Basirhat, Sunderbans and Jhargram new districts had been taken by the state cabinet in December 2015, four months ago.

The poll panel has sent a separate letter to the chief secretary questioning his conduct. The letter said that the use of the words “by order of the Chief Minister” in his response was “avoidable” and expressed the hope that he would not use such language in future.

To Mamata, the EC wrote, “The commission, hereby makes it clear that the aforesaid notice was issued to you for MCC (model code of conduct) violation related to you as chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress and not to the state government of West Bengal... Therefore, the reply to that notice should have come to the commission from you and not from (chief secretary) Basudeb Banerjee.”

— Inputs by ABANTIKA GHOSH