Kolkata, Salt Lake police commissioners were transferred to make way for cash flow through hawala: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today make a startling allegation – she said that the police commissioners of Kolkata and Salt Lake had been transferred to make way for cash flow into the area in Bengal through hawala. The transfer had taken place at the instruction of the Election Commission of India.

Banerjee’s allegations thus imply of a nexus between the ruling party – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the EC. The Opposition parties have alleged that the EC was favouring the BJP, but this is the first time that Banerjee has talked of a nexus between the EC and the BJP in order to “facilitate” the flow of cash.

She said this today at a press conference after a meeting to analyse the performance of her party in Hooghly district.

The Bengal CM also said that though there were several issues in her party that needed to be addressed, the main reason of Trinamool Congress’ defeat was due to the huge amount of money spent by the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

She said that this election has been “scandalous”. “The BJP has spent crores and it is under the party’s instructions that the CPs of Kolkata and Salt Lake were transferred out,” she said. “We are probing the flow of cash through a fact finding team.”

According to Banerjee, the Election Commission should be formed through collegiums. She questioned why three officers of the EC should have so much power centred, and get to decide everything. Additionally, she said that most electronic voting machines (EVMs) had been “programmed”, and the replaced EVMs used in place of damaged ones are used without “mock polls”. “The situation this Lok Sabha polls was worse than Emergency days,” she said.

Banerjee admitted today that her party’s loss in Singur – that gave birth to Trinamool Congress’ land movement – was a matter of “shame”. She told the party workers that if there all allegations and complaints must be taken directly to her office in Kalighat. She also admitted that many leaders taking share of money from beneficiaries in government projects and schemes had led to disgruntlement among people, and this should be seriously addressed.