Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today objected to the appointment of KK Sharma – retired IPS officer who was director general of Border Security Force – as special central police observer for West Bengal. The party is writing to the Election Commission alleging that last year Sharma had attended a programme backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has also written to the EC saying the appointment was “questionable and would raise the question of political partisanship”.
The EC has appointed Sharma as the special central police observer for West Bengal and Jharkhand. Sharma, a 1982 batch IPS officer, is to oversee deployment and other security-related issues in both states.
At a press conference today, Banerjee said Sharma was present in uniform at an event of backed by the RSS last year. She even showed a picture of the event. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien had tweeted the photograph yesterday. The CM asked, “How is this possible in a democracy?”
She added that either the home department was “misleading” or it was a “deliberate attempt to malign Bengal”. She said she had great respect for the Election Commission and was therefore writing a strong letter on this. “It is our humble submission before the EC to take note of this issue,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee also pointed out that a retired officer, who is husband of the Malda Uttar constituency of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also overseeing deployment of central forces in Bengal, and the EC should take note of the matter.
Read More: Results of civic body polls today, Trinamool leads in all 4
