Bengal polls: TMC demands removal of Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain for being 'biased'

It further alleged that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections several steps taken by Jain were not only against the norm of the EC but also against the federal structure

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday demanded the removal of Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain, who is in charge of the West Bengal Assembly elections, accusing him of being biased.

It further alleged that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections several steps taken by Jain were not only against the norm of the Election Commission (EC) but also against the federal structure.

Speaking to reporters, senior TMC lawmaker Saugata Roy further alleged that the steps taken by Jain in the last Lok Sabha elections directly or indirectly benefited the BJP.

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“We seek the removal of Sudeep Jain. His biased actions have come to our notice during the last Lok Sabha elections,” said Roy.

TMC MP and national spokesperson Derek O’Brien wrote to the poll body seeking Jain's removal on the grounds of his “erroneous and biased report” following the vandalising of the statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the iconic social reformer and educationist of Bengal, during Amit Shah’s roadshow in Kolkata in the last phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“In the aftermath of the same (vandalism during Shah’s roadshow) Shri Sudeep Jain furnished an erroneous and biased report based on which the Election Commission of India, in an unprecedented manner, barred election campaigning two days before the polling date,” stated O’Brien in his letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal.

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He further alleged that apart from the BJP, no other party was able to complete their election campaign.

“Under the circumstances, we have serious doubt that Shri Sudeep Jain would be impartial, fair and his approach towards all parties would be equal for the reason that all his actions were favourable to and/or are tilted towards the BJP and/or undue, illegal, and/or unconstitutional. We have no confidence in Shri Sudeep Jain,” stated O’Brien.